part I

should hate most awfully to be a subject of a queen.’ Canadian. ‘The queen is a mere figure-head; there is no difference at all between Canada and the United States.’ ‘Come to think, I believe you do have elections there.’ ‘I should say we did. We have elections and campaigns, and political parties, and bosses, and ringsters, and boodlers, and——.’ ‘Boodlers?’ ‘Plenty of ’em.’ ‘Well, well! Why, you are freemen just like us.’ 2. (American thieves’.)—Boodlers and shovers are the men who issue false money (see Boodle, sense 3). Swindlers of this type generally hunt in couples; one carrying the bulk of the counterfeit money, and receiving the good change as obtained by his companion, who utters the boodle piece by piece. The game is generally worked so that at the slightest alarm the boodle carrier vanishes and leaves nothing to criminate his confederate. Booget, subs. (old cant).—A travelling tinker’s basket. Quoted by Harman [1567]. Book, subs. (sporting).—1. In betting, more especially in connection with horse racing, an arrangement of bets made against certain horses, and so calculated that the bookmaker (q.v.) has a strong chance of winning something whatever the result. 1836. Dickens, Pickwick, I., p. 400. And Wilkins Flasher, Esquire, entered it (the bet) in a little book with a gold pencil-case; and the other gentleman entered it also, in another little book with another gold pencil-case. 1837. Disraeli, Henrietta Temple, p. 260. Am I to be branded because I have made half a million by a good book? 1852. F. E. Smedley, Lewis Arundel, ch. liii. ‘He has backed the Dodona colt for the Derby, and has got a heavier book on the race than he likes.’ 1869. Gent. Mag., July, p. 231. He wins your money with a smile, will accommodate his book to suit what bets you may choose to make. 1879. Jas. Payn, High Spirits (Change of Views). He had a knowledge, too, of practical mathematics, which enabled him to make a book upon every great racing event of the year. 1889. Pall Mall Gazette, Oct. 21, p. 6, col. 1. Every sporting man is flattered if termed a sportsman, but it would be almost an insult to speak to a sportsman as a sporting man. Wherein does the distinction lie? it may be asked. The one is a lover of sport for the sake of the thing itself. The other is a lover of it for what he can get out of the business. The former may bet, but he does not look at sport through the glasses of a book; the latter always bets, and in fact would not care about it at all if he could not take or give odds. 2. (card-players’.)—The first six tricks at whist. 3. (general.)—The copy of words to which music is set; the words of a play; formerly only applied to the libretto of an opera. 1768. Sterne, Sentimental Journey, I., 180. A small pamphlet, it might be the book of the opera. 1889. Answers, 8 June, p. 24. The prompter had a little table on the ‘prompt’ side; that is, the right-hand side looking from the house, and his ‘book’ was one mass of directions, the margins being covered with little pictures and diagrams of the stage, showing the positions of the leading actors in every scene. To know one’s book, phr. (popular).—To have made up one’s mind; to know what is best for one’s interest. c. 1879. Broadside Ballad, ‘Ain’t you glad you didn’t.’ Ain’t you glad sometimes to know, A second thought you took, About a subject upon which You thought you knew your book; Now first of all you think you will, And then you think you won’t, While someone says ‘Go in and win!’ And someone else says ‘Don’t.’ To suit one’s book, phr. (common).—To suit one’s arrangements. Cf., Book, subs., sense 1, the allusion being to betting books, in which bets are formally entered. 1852. F. E. Smedley, Lewis Arundel, ch. vi. ‘By which time he expects to be so hard up that he must marry somebody, and as there will be plenty of the needful, she will suit his book as well as any other.’ Booked, ppl. adj. (common).—Caught; fixed; disposed of; destined, etc. From the book-keeping term—entered in a book, or registered. 1840. Hood, Up the Rhine, p. 6. I am booked for a much longer journey. 1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3 ed., p. 446. Booked, caught, taken, or disposed of. 1881. Jas. Payn, Grape from a Thorn, ch. xxiii. ‘I don’t remember anyone having given me an “engaged ring” before; and it’s not leap year, neither. However, the lady’s booked, which is a great relief.’ French thieves use être planché for ‘to be booked’; also être mort (i.e., ‘to be dead’); the adjective is rendered by faitré, and the person booked is un gerbable. Book-Form, subs. (sporting).—The relative powers of speed or endurance of race-horses as set down in the Racing Calendar or ‘book.’ Bookie or Booky, subs. (sporting).—An abbreviated form of bookmaker (q.v.). 1885. Eng. Ill. Mag., April, p. 509. No rowdy ring, but a few quiet and well-known bookies, who were ready enough to lay the odds to a modest fiver. 1889. Sporting Times, 29 June. He now had occasion to speedily hie To the bookie who laid him the bet, Who was one of the small and particular fry, That at times, when convenient, forget. Bookmaker, subs. (sporting).—The English Encyclopædia says:—In betting there are two parties—one called ‘layers,’ as the bookmakers are termed, and the other ‘backers,’ in which class may be included owners of horses as well as the public. The backer takes the odds which the bookmaker lays against a horse, the former speculating upon the success of the animal, the latter upon its defeat; and taking the case of Cremorne for the Derby of 1872, just before the race, the bookmaker would have laid 3 to 1, or perhaps £1000 to £300 against him, by which transaction, if the horse won, as he did, the backer would win £1000 for risking £300, and the bookmaker lose the £1000 which he risked to win the smaller sum. At first sight this may appear an act of very questionable policy on the part of the bookmaker; but really it is not so, because so far from running a greater risk than the backer, he runs less, inasmuch as it is his plan to lay the same amount (£1000) against every horse in the race, and as there can be but one winner, he would in all probability receive more than enough money from the many losers to pay the stated sum of £1000 which the chances are he has laid against the one winner, whichever it is.—See also Book, subs., sense 1, and Bookie. 1862. London Review, Aug. 30, p. 188. Betting there seemed to be none ... we could not perceive a single book or bookmaker. 1880. W. Day, Racehorse in Training, ch. xxiv., p. 245. Bookmakers pursue a legitimate and lucrative trade by laying against all horses as they appear in the market. 1883. Hawley Smart, Hard Lines, ch. iii. Finding ... that the bookmaker whom for once they have landed for ‘a thousand to thirty’ is hopelessly insolvent. Bookmaker’s Pocket, subs. (sporting).—A breast-pocket made inside the waistcoat, for notes of large amount.—Hotten.—See Bookmaker. Books, subs. (card-players’).—1. A pack of cards. A term used mainly by professional card-players. Also called devil’s books; book of broads; book of briefs. The French equivalent is un juge de paix; while une cartouchière à portées is a prepared pack used by sharpers. 1706. Mrs. Centlivre, Basset Table, IV., ii., wks. (1872) I., 245. L. Revel. Clean cards here. Mrs. Sago. Burn this book, ’t has an unlucky air [tears them]. Bring some more books. 2. (Winchester College.)—(a.) The prizes formerly presented by Lord Say and Sele, now given by the governing body, to the ‘Senior’ in each division at the end of ‘Half.’ (b.) The school is thus divided:—Sixth Book—Senior and Junior Division; the whole of the rest of the School is in Fifth Book—Senior Part, Middle Part, Junior Part, each part being divided into so many divisions, Senior, Middle and Junior, or Senior, 2nd, 3rd and Junior, as the case may require. Formerly there was also ‘Fourth Book,’ but it ceased to exist about twenty-five years ago. 1876. Mansfield, School-Life at Winchester College, p. 104. The school was divided into three classes, or books, as they were called. Of these, the Præfects formed one, Sixth Book; Fifth Book was sub-divided into three parts, called respectively, ‘Senior, Middle, and Junior part of the Fifth’; in speaking of them, the words, ‘of the Fifth’ were generally omitted. The rest of the boys made up ‘Fourth Book.’ (c.) Up at books.—In class; repeating lessons; now called Up to books. 1876. Mansfield, School-Life at Winchester College, p. 101. At each end of school are three tiers of benches rising gradually one above the other,—that on the ground being called ‘Senior Row,’ and the others ‘Middle,’ and ‘Junior Row’ respectively. On these the Classes sit when ‘up at books,’ i.e., when repeating lessons. (d.) Books chambers.—Explained by quotation. 1876. Mansfield, School-Life at Winchester College, p. 103. On Remedies (a kind of whole holiday), we also went into School in the morning and afternoon for an hour or two without masters; this was called books chambers; and on Sundays, from four till a quarter to five. (e) To get or make books.—To make the highest score at anything. Cf., Books, sense 2a. Bookwork, subs. (University).—Mathematics that can be learned verbatim from books—all that are not problems. Boom.—This word is a comparatively recent production in its slang sense; and is variously used as a substantive or as a verb. Before particularizing its special usages, it may be interesting to note how, within a few years, it has made its appearance in a variety of combinations; as, ‘the whole State is booming for Smith,’ or ‘the boys have whooped up the State to boom for Smith,’ or ‘the Smith boom is ahead in this State,’ etc., etc. Stocks and money are said to be booming when active; and any particular spot within a flourishing district is regarded as within the boom-belt. A successful team or party is said to be a booming squad, and we even read of boomlets to express progress of a lesser degree. [Its origin is largely a matter of conjecture, but the most probable derivation is from the nautical phrase ‘boom-out,’ signifying a vessel running rapidly before the wind; but Murray points out that as various associations are probable, and as the actual use of the word has not been regulated by any distinct etymological feeling, it is not likely that any derivation will account for all its applications.] Subs.—Commercial activity; rapid advance in prices; a flourishing state of affairs—in all its applications it is synonymous with extreme vigour and effectiveness. The first quotation carries its use back a few years beyond the earliest date given in the New English Dictionary. 1875. Scribner’s Mag., July, p. 277. Another boom in prices is to be looked for. 1883. Referee, May 6, p. 3, col. 2. ‘The Merry Duchess’ is a big boom, and I understand that money is being turned away nightly. 1883. M. Twain, Life on the Mississippi, ch. lvii., p. 499. I lived here in 1857—an extraordinary year there in real-estate matters. The boom was something wonderful. Everybody bought, everybody sold ... anything in the semblance of a town lot, no matter how situated, was saleable. 1888. Boston Daily Globe. After the Sheridan reception, of course John Sherman must come to Boston. The Ohio statesman knows where all the real live booms start. If Mr. Blaine is wise he also will come to the ‘Hub’ without delay. 1888. Missouri Republican, 16 Feb. ‘Jim, they say thar is a big bum up at Rome.’ ‘What’s that?’ said Jim. ‘It’s a kind of new tradin’ business what swells and shrinks, and the sweller and shrinker stays down in a celler and works the machine. They trade in stock.’ ‘Horses and mules?’ said Jim. ‘No, hit’s all on paper, and nobody can see what he’s buyin’. You put your money in and wait for a swell. If it comes you are all right, but if a shrink comes you are busted, and you feel so ashamed that you don’t say anything about it, and it never gets into the papers—nothing but the swells gits into the papers. Verb, intr.—To go off with a boom.—See subs. To make rapid and vigorous progress; to advance by leaps and bounds; trans. to push; to puff; to bring into prominence with a rush. 1874. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Gilded Age, ch. xxvii. There’s 200,000 dollars coming, and that will set things booming again. 1875. Scribner’s Mag., July, p. 272. Stocks may boom to-day, but droop to-morrow, and with the crash come remorse and repentance. Ibid, p. 277. When stocks are active they are said to be booming. 1884. M. Twain, Huckleberry Finn, xiii., 3. We boomed along down the river, watching for lights and watching for our raft. 1888. Chicago Daily Inter-Ocean. The city of Paris is said to be diminishing instead of increasing in population. They don’t know how to boom a town over there. As already stated, boom enters into many combinations; boomer (q.v.), boom-belt, booming-squad, etc. 1888. New Orleans Picayune. A boom in North Carolina is not the kind of phenomenon to which we are accustomed here. Sales of land at from 2 dols. to 10 dols. an acre in a boom belt are not of record hereabout. 1888. Chicago Herald. Ben Butterworth, of Ohio, one of the mainstays of John Sherman’s booming squad, has just had the title of boss Republican tariff debater conferred upon him by the culture of Boston. To top one’s boom off, phr. (nautical).—To be off, or to start in a certain direction. 1871. G. Meredith, Harry Richmond, ch. xxxviii., p. 346 (1886). ‘And now top your boom, and to bed here.’ Boomer, subs. (American).—1. One who booms or causes an enterprise to become flourishing, active or notorious. [From boom, subs., + er.] 1888. Times, Sept. 26, p. 8. [He] is a North-Western boomer of great earnestness. [M.] 1885. Boston (Mass.) Journal, Aug. 19, p. 2, col. 4. The Oklahoma boomers. [M.] 2. Attributively applied to anybody or anything considerably above the average. Thus, what English people would call a bouncing lie, an American, if given to slang, would call a boomer; so also a fine woman, a horse with extra good points, etc., etc. Boomerang, subs. (American).—Figuratively used to signify acts or words, the results of which recoil upon the person from whom they originate. The boomerang is properly an Australian missile weapon which, when thrown, can be made to return to the thrower; or which, likewise, can be caused to take an opposite direction to that in which it is first thrown. 1845. Holmes, Modest Request, Poems (1884), 42. Like the strange weapon, which the Australian throws, Your verbal boomerang slaps you on the nose. [M.] 1870. Lowell, Among My Books, 1 S. (1873), 219. The boomerang of argument, which one throws in the opposite direction of what he means to hit. [M.] Booming, ppl. adj. (American).—Flourishing; active; in good form; large; astonishing.—See Boom and Boomer in all senses. Boom-Passenger, subs. (nautical).—A sailor’s slang term for a convict on board ship. Derived from the circumstance that prisoners on board convict ships were chained to, or were made to crawl along or stand on the booms for exercise or punishment.—Hotten. Boon-Companion, subs. (colloquial).—A comrade in a drinking bout; a good fellow. [Boon is evidently a corruption of the French bon.] 1566. Drant, Med. Morall, A. v. He is my bone companion, it’s he that cheares up me. [M.] 1592. Greene, Quip, in wks. XI., 220. To seeke good consortes and boone companions to passe away the day withall. 1594. Nashe, Terrors of the Night, in wks. III., 228. Our Poets or boone companions they are out of question. 1600. W. Kemp, Nine Days’ Wonder, in Arber’s English Garner, vol. VII., p. 27. And coming to my inn, where the host was a very boon companion, I desired to see him. 1712. Arbuthnot, History of John Bull, pt. I., ch. v. This was occasioned by his being a boon companion, loving his bottle and his diversion. 1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ch. xxiii. The morning after a debauch is usually one of reflection, even to the most customary boon companion. 1827. Lytton, Pelham, ch. lxvii. We went downstairs to our dinner, as charmed with each other as boon companions always should be. Boon-Companionship, subs. (colloquial).—Jollity; conviviality.—See Boon-companion. 1592. Nashe, Strange Newes, in wks. II., 176. Thinke not, though vnder correction Of your boone-companionship, I am disposd to be a little pleasant, I condemne you of anie immoderation, either in eating or drinking. 1849. Lytton, Caxtons, pt. XII., ch. iv. A little society, and boon-companionship ... would take Roland out of those gloomy reveries. Boong.—See Bung. Boorde.—See Bord. Boost, subs. (American).—A hoisting; a ‘shove’; a ‘lift’; a ‘push up’—a New England vulgarism. 1858. Dow, Sermons. Office seekers ask you to give them a boost into the tree of office. [M.] 1866. T. A. Richards, Rice Fields of the South. [A negro-preacher in South Carolina, loq.] ‘For, my bredderen, little Zaccheus was bound to see the Lord for once, dough he had to climb up de tree to do it. And how did he get up der tree? Ah, how did he get up der tree, my bredderen? Did he wait for some lazy nigger to bring him a ladder? Ah, no, my bredderen. Did he wait to be boosted? Ah, no, my bredderen. Not a boost! He climbed right straight up der tree hisself, like de possum, by his own hands and feet and de grace of God!’ 1888. Puck’s Library, May, p. 11. A genius took hold of the business, and gave it a little boost. He was a man of the times, and he applied his reasoning faculties to the problem presented to him. ‘What,’ he asked, ‘is the chief means of success?’ Verb.—To hoist; to lift up; to shove.—See subs. 1848–64. J. R. Lowell, Biglow Papers, II., 106. Whereas ole Abram ’d sink afore he’d let a darkie boost him. 1872. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Roughing It, ch. vii. You ought to have seen that spider-legged old skeleton go! and you ought to have seen the bull cut out after him, too—head down, tongue out, tail up, bellowing like everything, and actually mowing down the weeds, and tearing up the earth, and boosting up the sand like a whirlwind! 1884. Harper’s Magazine, Aug., p. 481, col. 1. To boost a jurist of so much helpless avoirdupois in through the carriage door. Boosy.—See Boozy. Boot, verb (military).—To beat; to punish with a strap. The punishment is irregular and unconventional, being inflicted by soldiers on a comrade discovered guilty of some serious breach of the unwritten law of comradeship, such as theft, etc. The beating was formerly inflicted with a bootjack—hence the name. Booth, subs. (thieves’).—A house; ‘to heave a booth,’ i.e., ‘to rob a house.’ Booth-Burster, subs. (theatrical).—A loud and noisy actor. A variant of barn-stormer (q.v.). Booting, subs. (military).—A punishment administered with a strap. Cf., Colting. Boot-Joe, subs. (military).—Musketry drill. Boot-Leg Plan.—See On the boot-leg plan. Bootlick, subs. (American).—A flunkey; hanger-on; or doer of dirty work. [In England such a one is called a ‘bootlicker,’ of which bootlick is probably an abbreviated form.] Verb.—To toady; to hang on; to undertake ‘dirty’ work. Boots, subs. (colloquial).—1. The servant at hotels and places of a kindred character who cleans the boots of visitors. Formerly called boot-catchers, because in the old riding and coaching days part of their duty was to divest travellers of their footgear. 2. (military.)—The youngest officer in a regimental mess. Like old boots—beans—bricks—blazes, etc., phr. (common).—Thoroughly; vigorously. A simile as general in its application as it is irrelevant. It may mean anything, everything, and nothing. Why old boots and not new boots is beyond comprehension. 1868. Miss Braddon, Sir Jasper, ch. xxvii., p. 282. I’ll stick to you like old boots. 1874. Saturday Review, Jan., p. 55. An Oxford man, nay even a Balliol man ... introduced in the story a pleasing change by such a phrase as jawing away like old boots. To buy old boots, phr. (old).—To marry or keep the cast-off mistress of another man. To die in one’s boots (q.v.). Boots and Leathers.—See Commoner peal. Booty. To play booty, phr. (old).—To play falsely; dishonestly; or unfairly; this with the object of not winning, a previous arrangement having been made with a confederate to share the spoils resulting from the bogus play. Sometimes it takes the form of permitting the victim to win small stakes in order to encourage him to hazard larger sums which, naturally, he is not allowed to win.—See quotation from Dyche. 1575. Frat. of Vacabondes, p. 13. They wil make as much as they can, and consent as though they wil play booty againt him. 1608. Dekker, Belman of London, in wks. (Grosart) III., 133. They ... haue still an eare how the layes [bets] are made, and according to that leuell doe they throw their bowles, so that be sure the bowlers play booty. 1742. Fielding, Joseph Andrews, bk. I., ch. ii. The best gamesters, before they laid their money, always inquired which horse little Joey was to ride; and the bets were rather proportioned by the rider than by the horse himself; especially after he had scornfully refused a considerable bribe to play booty on such an occasion. 1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Booty (s.), plunder, spoil, prize; also a cant word signifying a pretence to one thing, and at the same time intends and does the contrary, in order to cheat, impose upon, and draw in a person to lay wagers, play at some game, etc. 1776. Colman, The Spleen, in wks. (1777) IV., 276. Jubilee started and stumbled but, by-the-bye, I believe his rider played booty—Duenna won the stakes, and the knowing ones were all taken in. 1817. Scott, Rob Roy, ch. vii. ‘Were he caught playing booty, he would be disarmed, and probably dismounted.’ 1831. Disraeli, Young Duke. One thing remained to be lost—what he called his honour, which was already on the scent to play booty. So also booty = playing booty, and booty-fellow, a sharer in the plunder. Booze, subs. (popular).—1. Drink; a draught. The older forms are bouse or bouze (q.v.), but booze in its present form appears as early as 1714. For synonyms, see Drinks. 1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4 ed.), p. 11. Booze, Drink. [List of cant words.] 1821. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act ii., Sc. 6. Jemmy. Gemmen, have you ordered the peck and booze for the evening? Sold. Suke. Aye, aye, I’ve taken care of that—shoulder of veal and garnish—Turkey and appendleges—Parmesan—Filberds—Port and Madery. 1889. Sporting Times, 6 July. Kid. The Music Hall Sports are at Alexandra Park on the 23rd, and there will be rare doings on that occasion. Master and Shifter both give prizes, and there will be booze in our drag. 2. A drinking bout; a tipsy frolic. Murray’s first quote for this form and sense is dated 1864; but, from the following, it will be seen to be at least thirty years older. For synonyms, see Jamboree. 1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. ‘We’ll have a jolly boose when all’s over.’ 1884. St. James’s Gazette, 19 Dec., p. 4, col. 1. There was a great booze on board. Verb (common).—To drink heavily; to tipple; to guzzle. An old term employed in some sense of ‘to drink’ as early as 1300. Also booze (q.v.). For synonyms, see Swill. 1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 5. The buriall was tourned to bousing and belly cheere. 1592. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse, in wks. II., 91. They should haue all the companie that resort to them, bye bowzing and beere-bathing in their bouses every after-noone. 1777. Colman, Epilogue to Sheridan’s School for Scandal. While good Sir Peter boozes with the squire. 1853. Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, ch. xiii., p. 173. ‘I wonder, Sir Charles Lyndon, a gentleman who has been the King’s ambassador, can demean himself by gambling and boozing with low Irish black-legs!’ So also boozed (ppl. adj.), drunk, fuddled; boozy (adj.), drunken, ‘screwed’; boozing (verbal subs.), the act of drinking hard; and boozer (subs.), a drunkard, a tippler—examples of which respectively will be found hereunder in sections. b. 1529. Skelton, Elynoor Rommin, in Hart. Misc. (ed. Park), I., 416. Droupy and drowsie, Scurvy and lousie Her face all bowsie. 1592. Greene, Quip, in wks. XI., 253. To marke the bowsie drunkard to dye of the dropsy. 1611. Cotgrave, Piailleur: m ... a tipler, bowser. 1616. Jonson, Devil’s an Ass, V., 4. And in the meantime, to be greasy, and bouzy. 1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. iv., p. 36 (1874). Most part of the night we spent in boozing, pecking rumly ... that is drinking, eating. 1693. Dryden, Juvenal, x., 288. Which in his cups the bowsy poet sings. 1705. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus, vol. II., pt. IV., p. 14. Amongst a Crowd of Sots, half boozy. c. 1819. Wolcot, P. Pindar, p. 303, ed. 1830. This landlord was a boozer stout, A snuff-taker and smoker. [d.] 1848. Thackeray, Book of Snobs, ch. xxiii. The boozy unshorn wretch is seen hovering round quays as packets arrive, and tippling drams in inn bars where he gets credit. 1848. Thackeray, Book of Snobs, ch. xxxiii. The quantity of brandy-and-water that Jack took showed what a regular boozer he was. 1850. P. Crook, War of Hats, 50. Boozed in their tavern dens, The scurril press drove all their dirty pens. 1866. G. Eliot, Felix Holt, ch. xi. ‘Till they can show there’s something they love better than swilling themselves with ale, entension of the suffrage can never mean anything for them but entension of boozing.’ 1889. Ally Sloper’s Half Holiday, Aug. 24, p. 267, col. 2. In Canton gardens I have boozed; Beneath the palm-trees I have snoozed; I’ve seen the alligator smile, And peppered at the crocodile. Boozing Cheat, subs. (thieves’).—A bottle. [From booze (q.v.), drink, + cheat, from A.S. ceat, a thing.] Boozing-Ken, subs. (old).—A drinking den. [From booze (q.v.), drink, + ken, a place.] A term of long standing. A French equivalent is une bibine, but for general synonyms, see Lush crib. 1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 65. A bowsing-ken, a ale house. 1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 37 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874). Bowsing-ken, an Ale-house. 1622. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, II., i. When last in conference at the boozing-ken, This other day we sat about our dead prince. 1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4 ed.), p. 11. Boozing-ken, an Ale-house. [List of cant words in.] 1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. The hovel which they termed their boozing-ken. Boozington, subs. (Australian thieves’).—A drunkard. [Apparently a formation from booze (q.v.), to drink, on the model of lushington (q.v.), an English equivalent.] For synonyms, see Elbow crooker. Borachio, subs. (old).—A nickname for a drunkard; formerly a skin for holding wine. For synonyms, see Elbow crooker. Borak. To poke borak, verbal phr. (colonial).—To pour fictitious news into credulous ears; to ‘stuff’; to ‘kid.’ 1587. Notes and Queries, 7 S., iii., 476. Poke borak, applied in Colonial conversation to the operations of a person who pours fictitious information into the ears of a credulous listener. Bord, Borde, Boorde, subs. (old cant).—A shilling. The origin is unknown. For synonyms, see Blow. 1567. Harman, Caveat, p. 85. Roge, but bouse there a bord, i.e., but drink there a shilling. 1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 37 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874). Boord, a shilling; Halfe a Boord, sixepence. 1611. Dekker, Roaring Girle, wks. (1873) III., 219. My Lord Noland ... bestowes vpon you two, two boordes and a half. 1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 47 (1874). Borde, a shilling. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. [The same definition.] Bordeaux, subs. (pugilistic).—Blood [an allusion to the colour of the wine. Cf. Claret and Badminton]. For synonyms, see Claret. Bord You! phr. (nautical).—An expression used to claim the next turn in drinking. Bore, subs. and verb (old slang, but now recognised).—Anybody or anything wearisome or annoying; to weary or to be wearied. [The derivation is unknown, and the word does not appear in English literature prior to 1750. Hotten’s reference to Shakspeare, King Henry VIII., i., 1, At this instant He bores me with some trick, is a misreading, ‘bore’ in this instance signifying ‘to stab,’ as the context clearly shows.] Verb (sporting).—To push or thrust out of the course; and boring, subs., the practice of ‘boring.’ Amongst pugilists it signifies to drive an opponent on to the ropes of the ring by sheer weight, whilst amongst rowing men it denotes the action of a coxswain in so steering a boat as to force his opponent into the shore, or into still water, thus obtaining an unfair advantage; also analogously applied to horse-racing. The term, as so used, is a very old one, and is derived from the persistency of motion of a boring tool. 1672. Vanbrugh, Lover’s Quarrels, 317 in Hazl. E. P., pt. II., 266. He bor’d him out of the saddle fair. 1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress. M—rl—y, that very great Count, stood deploring, He hadn’t taught Georgy his new modes of boring. 1821. The Fancy, vol. I., p. 255. Evans bored in, and upset his man in the first round. 1870. Dickens, Edwin Drood, ch. xvii., p. 129. Their fighting code stood in great need of revision, as empowering them not only to bore their man to the ropes, but ... also to hit him when he was down. Born Days. All One’s Born Days, phr. (colloquial).—One’s lifetime. 1740. Richarsdon, Pamela, III., 383. He never was so delighted in his born days. 1758. Richardson, Grandison, I., 103. There was one Miss Byron, a Northamptonshire lady, whom I never saw before in my born days. 1809. Miss Edgeworth, Ennui, ch. ix. Craiglethorpe will know just as much of the lower Irish as the Cockney who has never been out of London, and who has never in all his born days seen an Irishman but on the English stage. Born Weak, phr. (nautical).—Said of a vessel feebly built.—Clark Russell’s Sailors’ Language. Bosh, subs. (common).—Nonsense; rubbish; ‘stuff’; ‘rot’—anything beneath contempt. [The derivation is uncertain. Murray says the word became current in England from its frequent occurrence in Morier’s Persian novels, Ayesha [1834], etc., most of them extremely popular productions. Its source has been suggested in the Turkish bosh lakerdi, ‘empty talk’; in the German bosh or bossch, an equivalent of ‘swipes’; and in the Gypsy bosh, ‘a noise,’ ‘a fiddle,’ from which latter it has been thought that there may be some connection between the exclamation bosh! and fiddle-de-dee (q.v.).] 1834. Morier, Ayesha, I., 219. This firman is bosh—nothing, [M.] 1857. C. Kingsley, Two Years Ago, ch. x. I always like to read old Darwin’s Loves of the Plants, bosh as it is in a scientific point of view. 1880. Punch, 10 Jan., p. 9, col. 2. ‘Prophet,’ said I, ‘of things evil!’ ‘Things are going to the devil’ Is the formula of fogies, I have heard that bosh before. Verb.—To humbug; to spoil; to mar. 1870. Macmillan’s Magazine, XXI, 71. You bosh his joke [a man’s] by refusing to laugh at it; you bosh his chance of sleep by playing on the cornet all night in the room next to him. [M.] 1883. Miss Braddon, Golden Calf, ch. xiv. ‘And wouldn’t he make a jolly schoolmaster?’ exclaimed Reginald. ‘Boys would get on capitally with Jardine. They’d never try to bosh him.’ Intj.—Nonsense! Rubbish! It’s all my eye!—See All my eye. 1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xxi. Bosh! It’s all correct. 1889. Pall Mall Gazette, October 30, p. 3, col. 1. ‘You always learn in front of the looking-glass, do you not, Mr. Brandram?’—‘Bosh!’ was the laughing reply. ‘I generally learn my plays and recitations whilst I am dressing; but you don’t think I deliberately stand and make monkey-faces in the looking-glass.’ Bosh Faker, subs. (vagrants’).—A violin player. [From Gypsy bosh, a violin, + faker, a performer or player.] 1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 231. Can you rocker Romanie Can you patter flash, Can you rocker Romanie Can you fake a bosh. Boshing, subs. (American thieves’).—A flogging. [Apparently a corrupted form of bashing.]—See Bash. Boshy, adj. (common).—Trumpery; nonsensical.—See Bosh. 1882. F. Anstey, Vice Versâ, ch. iv. ‘There was no dancing, only boshy games and a conjuror.’ Bos-Ken, subs. (vagrants’).—A farmhouse. An old canting term. [From L. bos = ox + ken, a house.] Cf., Ken. 1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 472. ‘Up at a bosken (farm-house) they’ll get among the servant girls.’ Boskiness, subs. (popular).—The quality of being fuddled with drink; bemused; a state of drunkenness. 1887. Judy, 31 August, p. 101. The Town Councillor had a squabble with his parent ... and accused him of boskiness. Bosky, adj. (popular).—Drunk; tipsy; fuddled. [Derivation uncertain; bosky = ‘wooded,’ or ‘bushy,’ and there may be an allusion to the obscurity and overshadowing, peculiar to a wooded country. Bailey [1728] has also bosky = swelled, but does not give the slang sense of the word, although it appears in the editions 1730–6. It may, therefore, be a figuratively humorous reading of ‘swelled,’ i.e., ‘tight.’] For synonyms, see Screwed. 1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Bosky (a.), fuddled, half or quite drunk. 1824. Blackw. Mag., XVI., 573. He may be tipsy, bosky, cut, or anything but drunk. 1886. Punch, 17 April, p. 185. I got a bit bosky last night. Has the ’eadache got into my rhymes? Bosman, subs. (vagrants’).—A farmer. [From the Dutch bosch-man, one who lives in the woods; otherwise Boschje-man, or bushman.] Cf., Bosken. 1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 471. ‘I’ve seen the swell bosmen (farmers) buy the pills to give the people standing about.’ Boss, subs. (American and English).—1. A master; a head man; one who directs. [From the Dutch baas, a master.] Few words have acquired a greater hold on American life than this term, and the primitive meaning of master, overseer, or superior of any kind, though in a large measure retained to this day, has been widened out in every direction. The political boss is the leader whose word is law to his henchman. Boss Tweed, of New York, is believed to have been the first to bear the title in a semi-official way. The phrase boss rule is said to have been invented by Mr. Wayne MacVeagh, and employed by him in political speeches in Chicago. It is now in common use in this sense. In the two first quotations the word appears to be used much as in the modern sense. For synonyms, see Governor. 1590. Marlowe, Tamburlaine, pt. I., Act iii., Sc. 3. Zab. Base concubine, must thou be placed by me, That am the empress of the mighty Turk? Zen. Disdainful Turkess and unreverend boss! 1679. M. Philipse, Early Voyage to New Netherlands (quoted by De Vere). Here they had their first interview with the female boss or supercargo of the vessel. 1848. Bartlett, Americanisms. I have never known a second wife but what was boss of the situation. 1850. New York Herald, May 24. The Eternal City is in a very curious position. The Pope has returned to his ancestral home; but he has nothing in his pocket, and Rothschild refuses to let him have any more money. A thousand years ago, and the boot would have been on t’other leg.... To-day it is very different. The Father of Holiness is the dependent of the Jew, and Rothschild is the real Pope and boss of all Europe. 1888. New York Herald, Jan. 12. Alderman Campbell—I move an amendment to make Hamline the general superintendent and chief boss of this whole gas business. 2. (popular.)—A short-sighted person; also one who squints. Cf., Boss-eyed and Boss, verb, sense 2. 3. (popular.)—A miss; a blunder. Cf., Boss, verb, sense 2. Adj.—Pleasant; first rate; chief. 1884. Echo, March 3, p. 1, col. 4. The Americans are acknowledged to be the boss artificers in wood. 1888. Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 18. Take it all together, with scarcity of food and little sleep, we had a hard but a boss time. Verb.—1. To manage; direct; control.—See subs., sense 1. 1856. National Intelligencer, Nov. 3. The little fellow that bosses it over the crowd. 1872. Athenæum, March 9. A child wishing to charge his sister with being the aggressor in a quarrel for which he was punished, exclaimed, ‘I did not boss the job; it was sister.’ 1883. Saturday Review, April 28, p. 515, col. 1. It is long since the more respectable inhabitants of America have been divided between the convenience of the Irish as hewers of wood and drawers of water, and as voters easily bossed or bribed on the one hand, and the manifold nuisance of them on the other. 1885. Sporting Times, July 6. The Shah has fairly bossed everything this week—he has been chief actor in our social system. 1888. Texas Siftings, July. When lovely woman hires a servant And bosses her around all day, What makes the girl pray half so fervent As her desire to run away. 2. (popular.)—To miss one’s aim; to make such a shot as a boss-eyed (q.v.) person would be expected to make. Boss-shot is a common phrase. 1887. N. and Q., 7 S., iii., 236. To boss is schoolboy slang for ‘to miss.’ So also derivatives—bossing, acting as a boss; bossism, a system of management or wire-pulling; bossy, pertaining to the qualities of a leader. Bossers, subs. (common).—Spectacles.—See Barnacles. Boss-Eyed, adj. (common).—Said of a person with one eye, or rather with one eye injured; a person with an obliquity of vision. In this sense sometimes varied by squinny-eyed and swivel-eyed (q.v.). Also used as a subs.—Boss-eye. c. 1884. Broadside Ballad, ‘Put me some Jam Roll by, Jenny.’ Come where the waves roll high, Jenny, Come where the waves roll high, Jenny, old girl, I love you, Come where the waves roll high. Come where the waves roll high, Jenny, Come where the sea-sick lie, Come where we eat salt-junk, love, Come with your old bos-eye. French Synonyms. Borgniat; cligner des œillets (a military term, ‘to be boss-eyed’); boiter des calots (‘to be boss-eyed’); calorgne. Bostruchyzer, subs. (Oxford University).—A small kind of comb for curling the whiskers.—Hotten. Obsolete. Bot, Bott, Botts, subs. (common).—The colic; belly-ache; gripes. Properly a name given to maggots found in the intestines of horses, under the hides of oxen, and in the nostrils of sheep. A French equivalent is la tourmente, i.e., ‘the torment.’ 1787. Burns, Death and Dr. Hornbook, st. 27. A countra Laird had ta’en the batts, Or some curmurring in his guts. 1816. Scott, Old Mortality, ch. viii. ‘I ne’er gat ony gude by his doctrine, as ye ca’t, but a sour fit o’ the batts wi’ sitting amang the wet moss-hays for four hours at a yoking. Botanical Excursion, subs. (old).—A thief’s circumlocution for transportation—the allusion being to Botany Bay (q.v.). Botany Bay, subs. (University).—1. At Oxford, Worcester College is so designated on account of its remote situation as regards the bulk of the collegiate buildings. It will be seen that a similar reason has caused a certain portion of Trinity College, Dublin, to receive an identical nickname. The general idea underlying the term is obviously that to get to the places in question one has figuratively to go almost as far as if transported to the real Botany Bay, formerly a convict settlement in New South Wales. 1841. Lever, Charles O’Malley, ch. xx., note. Botany Bay was the slang name given by college men to a new square rather remotely situated from the remainder of the college [i.e., Trinity, Dublin]. 1853. Rev. E. Bradley (‘Cuthbert Bede’), Adventures of Verdant Green, I., p. 63. A name given to W. College, from its being the most distant college. 2. (thieves’ and prison.)—Penal servitude. Formerly convicts [1787–1867] were transported to Botany Bay, a convict settlement at the Antipodes. Hence to go to Botany Bay was in popular use for a long term of imprisonment. Botany-Bay Fever, subs. (old).—Transportation; penal servitude. Convicts condemned to transportation were said to have died of, or to have Botany-Bay fever. Cf., Hempen fever for hanging. Botch, subs. (old).—A tailor. [An abbreviated form of ‘botcher,’ which has been used for a very long period in all the following senses—a cobbler, tailor who does repairs, jobber, and an unskilful workman.] Also called a Snip, which see for synonyms. Bottle. To turn out no bottle, phr. (sporting).—Not to turnout well; to fail. Bottle-Ache, subs. (common).—Drunkenness; also applied to an attack of delirium tremens. [From bottle, in allusion to drink causing indisposition, + ache, a pain or sickness.] There are many curious terms for this effect of intemperance, such as Jim-jams, barrel-fever, quart-mania; but for full list of synonyms, see Gallon distemper. Bottle-Arsed, adj. phr. (printers’).—Type thicker at one end than the other—a result of wear and tear. Bottle-holder, subs. (common).—A second at a prize-fight, hence— 2. One who gives moral support; a backer; an adviser. In the Times of 1851, Lord Palmerston was reported to consider himself the bottle-holder of oppressed states: and in Punch of the same year, a cartoon appeared representing that statesman as the ‘judicious bottle-holder.’ 1753. Smollett, Ct. Fathom (l.). An old bruiser makes a good bottle-holder. 1816. Scott, Antiquary, ch. xxxix. Petrie ... recommends, upon his own experience, as tutor in a family of distinction, this attitude to all led captains, tutors, dependents, and bottle-holders of every description. 1822. Scott, The Fortunes of Nigel, ch. ii. Cold water, and a little vinegar, applied according to the scientific method practised by the bottle-holders in a modern ring. 1860. Thackeray, Philip, ch. xl. ‘Do you remember his tremendous fight with Biggs?’ ‘Remember? who didn’t? Marston was Berry’s bottle-holder.’ Bottle-Holding, verbal subs. (common).—Backing; supporting. 1878–80. Justin MacCarthy, History of Our Own Times, II., p. 115. The noble lord (Palmerston) told the deputation that the past crisis was one which required on the part of the British Government much generalship and judgment, and that a good deal of judicious bottle-holding was obliged to be brought into play. Bottle of Brandy in a Glass, phr. (common).—A glass of beer; a recent and absurd slang introduction. Bottle of Spruce, subs. (rhyming slang).—Twopence. The play of words is upon ‘deuce’ = two. Bottles, subs. (Stock Exchange).—Barrett’s Brewery and Bottling Co. Shares. Bottle-Sucker, subs. (nautical).—An able-bodied seaman; the abbreviation is A.B.S., and a bottle-sucker is supposed to be a humorous rendering. Bottle-Up, verb (old).—To restrain (temper, feelings, etc.); to keep or hold back. 1622. T. Scott, Belg. Pismire, 53. Vapours ... botteled up in cloudes. 1863. H. Kingsley, Austin Elliot, ch. xi. Austin played very bad, trumped his partner’s ... knave, led out strong suits of trumps without any suit to follow, bottled them when his partner led them first time round. 1871. Cincinnati Commercial, April, p. 637. He will bottle up his wrath, having had some experience in the line of bottling up during the war, and pour out his vials upon General Farnsworth’s head, whenever the occasion offers. Bottom, subs. (colloquial).—1. The posteriors; not now in literary use. For synonyms, see Blind-cheeks and Bum. 1794–6. E. Darwin, Zoon. (1801), III., 253. So as to have his head and shoulders much lower than his bottom. 1822–36. J. Wilson, Noctes Ambr., xxxix. (1864), iv., 79. The Dunghill cock ... hides his head in a hole ... unashamed of the exposure of his enormous bottom. 1837. Carlyle, Fr. Rev., II., iv., i., 185. Patriot women take their hazel wands, and fustigate ... broad bottom of priests. 2. (popular.)—Capital; resources; stamina; ‘grit.’ 1662. Fuller, Worthies (1840), II., 451. Beginning on a good bottom left him by his father. 1747. Captn. Godfrey, Science of Defence, p. 34. I have mentioned strength and art as the two ingredients of a boxer. But there is another, which is vastly necessary; that is, what we call a bottom.... There are two things required to make this bottom, that is, wind and spirit, or heart, or wherever you can fix the residence of courage. 1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, pref., p. xv. The peculiarities of this boxer discussed—his power of standing with his arms extended for two whole days, without any rest, by which means he wore out his adversaries’ bottom, and conquered without either giving or taking. 1846. Thackeray, V. Fair, vol. II., ch. xiv. He did not like to dine with Steyne now. They had run races of pleasure together in youth when Bareacres was the winner. But Steyne had more bottom than he, and had lasted him out. 3. (popular.)—Spirit placed in a glass prior to the addition of water. [From bottom, the lowest surface or part of anything, the foundation, the basis. See peculiar American usage in 1883 quot.] Also used as a verb. 1854. Sir Theo. Martin, Bon Gaultier Ballads. Bottomed well with brandy. 1857. A. Trollope, Three Clerks, ch. xxxi. Gin and water was the ordinary tipple in the front parlour; and any one of its denizens inclined to cut a dash above his neighbours, generally did so with a bottom of brandy. 1883. Daily Telegraph, 2 July, p. 5, col. 3. Soda and dark bottom is mentioned in a list of American drinks in this article. To knock the bottom out of one, phr. (American).—To overcome; to defeat, etc. 1888. Cleveland Leader. The declination of Mr. Blaine, has knocked the bottom out of Mugwumpery. Bottom Dollar, subs. phr. (American).—The last dollar. The phrase ‘to bet one’s bottom dollar’ is frequently heard. Bottom Facts, subs. phr. (American).—The exact truth about any matter. To ‘get to the bottom facts’ concerning a subject, is to arrive at an unquestionable conclusion concerning it; or, as is said in England, to get to the root of the question. 1877. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Life on the Mississippi, p. 393. You take a family able to emba’m, and you’ve got a soft thing. You can mention sixteen different ways to do it—though there aint only one or two ways when you come down to the bottom facts of it—and they’ll take the highest priced way every time. It’s human nature—human nature in grief. The phrase is also varied by bottom rock. 1888. Omaha World. Bottom Rock. Conductor (on California train some years hence)—‘All out for Pitholeville.’ Real Estate Agent (entering car)—‘Orange groves and apple orchards, two for a penny.’ Bottomless Pit, subs. (old slang).—A coarse and vulgar name for the female pudenda. For synonyms, see Monosyllable. Botty, subs. (popular).—An infant’s posteriors; the French say tu tu. Adj. (popular).—Conceited; swaggering. To look botty is in French, faire sa merde; faire son matador. Bough, subs. (old).—The gallows. Tree (q.v.) is used in a similar sense. 1590. Swinburn, Testaments, 53. Or in Kent in Gauelkind ... for there it is said, the father to the boughe, and the son to the ploughe. [M.] 1596. Spenser, State Irel., wks. (1862), p. 553, col. 2. Some ... have beene for their goods sake caught up, and carryed straight to the bough. 1870. Morris, Earthly Par., III., iv., 77. If she doom thee to the bough. Boughs. Up in the boughs, phr. (old).—In a passion. Quoted by Grose. Bounce, subs. (common).—Brag; swagger; boastful falsehood and exaggeration. 1714. Steele, Lover (1723), 93. This is supposed to be only a bounce. 1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Bounce (s.) ... also the huff, brag, or swaggering of a bully or great pretender. 1765. Goldsmith, Haunch of Venison, l. 14. But hold—let me pause—don’t I hear you pronounce this tale of the bacon a damnable bounce? 1856. Whyte Melville, Kate Coventry, ch. i. Only tell a man you think him good-looking, and he falls in love with you directly; or if that is too great a bounce—and indeed very few of them have the slightest pretensions to beauty—you need only hint that he rides gallantly. 1880. Blackwood’s Mag., May, p. 670. The whole heroic adventure was the veriest bounce, the merest bunkum! 2. Impudence; cheek; brass (q.v.). 1872–4. John Forster, Life of Dickens, ch. lx. It is the face of the Webster type, but without the bounce of Webster’s face. 3. A boaster; swaggerer; showy swindler; bully. Cf., Bouncer. 1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dict. Bounce, a person well or fashionably drest is said to be a rank bounce. Verb.—1. To boast; bluster; hector; bully; blow up. 1633. Fletcher, Nt. Walkers, IV., i. I doe so whirle her to the Counsellors’ chambers ... and bounce her for more money. 1698. Ward, London Spy, pt. XVIII., p. 428. With lies he tells his Bloody Feats, And Bounces like a Bully. 1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Bounce (v.), to swagger, boast, crack, stump, or pretend to great matters. 1749. Walpole, Lett. to Mann, 3 May (1833), vol. II., p. 374. The Lords had four tickets a-piece, and each Commoner at first but two, till the Speaker bounced and obtained a third. 1760. Colman, Polly Honeycombe, in wks. (1777) IV., 55. Nay, nay, old gentleman, no bouncing; you’re mistaken in your man, sir! 1859. H. Kingsley, Geoffrey Hamlyn, ch. v. ‘He’ll be drinking at all the places coming along to get his courage up to bounce me.’ 1883. Daily News, July 26, p. 4, col. 8. To bounce is simply to prevail on persons whose mirth interferes with the general enjoyment to withdraw from society which they embarrass rather than adorn. 2. To lie; to cheat; to swindle. 1762. Foote, Liar, II., i. If it had come to an oath, I don’t think he would have bounced. 1863. H. Kingsley, Austin Elliot, ch. x. ‘It’s them gals, Mr. Austin, got a shilling of mine among un somewhere, and wants to bounce me out of it.’ On the bounce, phr. (common).—In a state of spasmodic movement; general liveliness. 1889. Sporting Times, June 29. Funny to a degree was it to watch some of the select and chosen of Lord Coventry, Major Clements, and those that rule the interior of the Invited Enclosure at Ascot. Several well known defaulters would be observed going to and fro ‘on the bounce,’ including one young gentleman who once signed his surname uninitialled to a cheque which was cashed by a confiding tradesman, who took the said endorsement for that of his baronial parent. To get the grand bounce, phr. (American).—This is equivalent, in political parlance, to dismissal, especially in reference to government appointments. Bounceable, adj. (common).—Prone to bouncing or boasting; ‘uppish’; ‘bumptious.’ [From bounce (q.v.) + able.] 1830. S. Warren, Diary of a Late Physician, ch. xvi. As soon as we had exhibited sundry doses of Irish cordial to our friend Tip—under the effects of which he became quite bouncible, and ranted about the feat he was to take a prominent part in. 1849. Dickens, David Copperfield, ch. iv. I heard that Mr. Sharp’s wig didn’t fit him; and that he needn’t be so bounceable—somebody else said ‘bumptious’—about it. Bouncer, subs. (common).—1. A bully; hector; blusterer; one who talks swaggeringly. [From the verb bounce, senses 1 and 2, + er.] 1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (4 ed.). Bouncer (s.), a bully or hectoring bravado. 1851–61. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, IV., 24. Those who cheat the Public ... Bouncers and Besters defrauding, by laying wagers, swaggering, or using threats. 2. (thieves’.)—A thief who steals goods from shop counters while bargaining with the tradesman. The exact French equivalent is dégringoleur, and the practice itself is termed dégringoler à la carre. 3. (common.)—A lie; a liar. For synonyms, see Whopper. [This usage in many instances completely overlaps sense 4.] 1762. Foote, Liar, II., i. He will tell ye more lies in an hour, than all the circulating libraries put together will publish in a year ... he was always distinguished by the facetious appellation of the bouncer. 1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, ch. xxxi. ‘He’s ... such a bouncer!!... I mean that he’s the greatest liar that ever walked a deck.’ 1872. M. E. Braddon, Dead Sea Fruit, ch. xxii. ‘In that case, I should say wait, and put your trust in Time—Time, the father of Truth, as Mary Stuart called him when she wanted to go in for a bouncer,—and oh, what an incredible number of royal bouncers were carried to and fro in the despatches of that period!’ 4. (common.)—Anything large of its kind; a ‘whopper’; a ‘thumper’; a ‘corker.’ 1596. Nashe, Saffron Walden, in wks. III., 140. My Book will grow such a bouncer, that those which buy it must bee faine to hire a porter to carry it after them in a basket. 5. (American.)—A man who ejects; a ‘chucker-out’ (q.v.). 1883. Daily News, July 26, p. 4, col. 8. The other fresh American type is less remarkable—the bouncer. One might suppose that a bouncer was a noisy braggart; but no. A scientific writer in the Nation describes a bouncer as a ‘silent, strong man.’ Every one who mixes much in society in Whitechapel will understand the functions of the bouncer when we explain that he is merely the English ‘chucker-out.’ 6. (harlotry.)—A prostitute’s companion; ponce; bully. For synonyms, see Ponce. 7. (naval.)—A gun that ‘kicks’ when fired. Bouncing, ppl. adj. (common).—Vigorous; lusty; exaggerated; excessive; big. This word has manifold meanings, referring, in its various senses, to largeness of size, vigour of action, with the idea of ungainliness rather than elegance. It is, as will be seen, of long continued use. c. 1563. Jacke Jugder, p. 42 (ed. Grosart). And made you a banket [banquet], and bouncing cheare. 1588. Marprelate’s Epistle, p. 14 (ed. Arber). For there must bee orders of ministers in the congregation where you meane this bounsing priest should haue superiortie. 1611. Middleton, Roaring Girle, Act iii., Sc. 3. The duck that sits is the bouncing ramp, that roaring girl my mistress. 1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. xix. While I was at work in the shop, a bouncing damsel, well dressed, came in. 1846. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, ch. ii. By the side of many tall and bouncing young ladies in the establishment, Rebecca Sharp looked like a child. Bouncing Cheat, subs. (old).—A bottle. [Bouncing, probably, says Grose, an allusion to the explosive noise made in drawing a cork, + cheat, a thing = Anglo Saxon ceat of the same meaning.] The French equivalent is une rouillarde or rouille, said to be derived from rouler. Empty bottles, it may be mentioned, are known as dead-men; camp-candlesticks; dead-marines; fellow-commoners, etc. For other synonyms, see Dead-men. Bounder, subs. (popular).—1. A four-wheeled cab or growler (q.v.). [Supposed to be an allusion to the jolting motion caused when travelling over a rough road, a fact intensified by the indifferent springs upon which such vehicles are often hung.] 2. (University.)—A student whose manners are not acceptable; one whose companionship is not cared for. 3. (University.)—A dog-cart. Cf., sense 1. 4. (common.)—A vulgar though well-dressed man; a superior kind of ‘’Arry’; one whose dress and personal appearance are correct, but whose manners are of a questionable character. The term is very often used in connection with bally (q.v.). a bally-bounder is one of the most objectionable of the genus. A synonymous term is snide (q.v.), and French equivalents are un mufe and un espèce de cafouilleux. A curious instance of French back-slang is found in another name—un lof, loff, loffard, loffe; lof here is fol reversed, i.e., mad, senseless, foolish. Bound To Be Had, Bound To Shine, etc., ppl. adj. (colloquial).—This expression enters into many slang phrases; for instance, when it seems certain that a man will be out-witted, cheated, or ‘bested,’ it is said of him that he is bound to be had; similarly, a man fated or resolved to distinguish himself is bound to shine. The colloquial use of bound dates back as far as 1360, but the peculiar expressions which bring it within the category of slang, are of much later origin. The following quotation will illustrate the usage in question, and further examples will be found under had, shine, etc. 1864. Hartford Post, July 14. When the public have an opportunity of examining this beautiful steamer, they will pronounce her the finest and most comfortable boat they have ever visited, and be satisfied that she is bound to shine. Boung.—See Bung. Boung-Nipper.—See Bung-nipper. Bounty-Jumper, subs. (American).—A term applied to men who, receiving a bounty when enlisting, desert, re-enlist, and receive a second bounty. [From bounty, a gratuity given to recruits on joining the army or navy, + jumper, a slang term for one who decamps surreptitiously.] The War of the Rebellion is responsible for this, as for many other colloquialisms. As the conflict lengthened out, men became in great request, and large bounties were offered by the North for volunteers. This bounty was found in many cases to be a direct incitement with unprincipled men to bad faith and unfair dealing. Such would enlist, receive their bounty, join their regiment, and then decamp, to reappear in another State, to go through the same performance. Cases were known where this was done many times over, and the practice was called bounty-jumping.—See Jumping. 1875. Higginson, History of United States, p. 306. Bringing into the service many bounty-jumpers, who enlisted merely for money, and soon deserted to enlist again. ante 1880. Song of the Bounty-Jumper (quoted in Bartlett). My song is of a fast young man whose name was Billy Wires; He used to run with the machine, and go to all the fires: But as he lov’d a soldier’s life, and wished strange things to see, So the thought struck him that he would go and jump the bounti-e. Bounty-Jumping, subs. (American).—Obtaining a bounty by enlisting and then deserting. Cf., Bounty-jumper. 1887. Illus. Lon. News, May 14, 552, 1. In the Civil War in America between the Northern and Southern States, bounty-jumping, or enlisting, and obtaining the bounty in several regiments, and then deserting, rose to the dignity of a fine art. Bourbon, subs. (American).—1. A Democrat of the straitest sect; a fire-eater. Applied, for the most part, to the Southern Democrats of the old school. This use of the word probably ante-dates the Civil War, but no instance of such use has been found in print. Bourbon County, Kentucky, is popularly associated with this kind of Democrat, but we must look to the old Bourbon party in France—uncompromising adherents of political tradition—for its true paternity. 2. A superior kind of whiskey; originally applied to that manufactured in Bourbon, Kentucky. For synonyms, see Drinks. Bouse, Bowse, Booze, subs. (old).—1. Applied to drink or liquor of any kind. In the sixteenth century bouse formed part of the cant of beggars and thieves; latterly the word, whether as substantive or verb, has become colloquial. [Thought to be derived from the Dutch busen, to drink to excess.] For synonyms, see Drinks. 1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 65. Bowse, drinke. 1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 37 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874). Bowse, drinke. 1633. Massinger, New Way to Pay Old Debts, I., i. Well. No bouse? nor no tobacco? 1785. Grose, Dictionary Vulgar Tongue. Bouze, etc., drink. 1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. As above. 2. (old.)—A drinking bout; a carouse. This sense is more frequently current than sense 1. Verb.—To drink to excess; to tipple; to ‘swill.’ Both this and the substantive seem to have been known as early as 1300, but neither came into general use until the sixteenth century, from which period both forms have become more and more colloquial. For synonyms, see Lush. 1567. Harman, Caveat, p. 32. They bowle and bowse one to another, and for the tyme bousing belly chere. 1592. Nashe, Pierce Penilesse. Who surmise, if there were no playes, they should have all the companie that resort to them bye bowzing and beere-bathing in their houses everie afternoone. 1615. Harington, Epigrams. Yet such the fashion is of Bacchus crue To quaffe and bowze, until they belch and spue. Well, leave it, Marcus, else thy drinking health. Will prove an eating to thy wit and wealth. So also bouser, a toper; bousing, hard drinking; and bousy, intoxicated or ‘screwed.’ Bouse the jib, verbal phr. (nautical).—To tipple; to drink heavily.—See Lush. Bousing Ken, subs. (old).—A tavern; inn; or drinking den; now applied to a low public house. For synonyms, see Lush crib. 1567. Harman, Caveat. Man. What, stowe your bene, cofe, and cut benat whydds, and byng we to rome vyle, to nyp a bong; so shall we haue lowre for the bousing ken, and when we byng back to the deuseauyel, we wyll fylche some duddes of the Ruffemans, or myll the ken for a bagge of dudes. 1652. Brome, Jovial Crew, II., wks. (1873) III., 390 ... As Tom or Tib When they at bowsing ken do swill. 1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, p. 27. But notwithstanding the Protean nature of the Flash or Cant language, the greater part of its vocabulary has remained unchanged for centuries, and many of the words used by the Canting Beggars in Beaumont and Fletcher, and the Gipsies in Ben Jonson’s Masque, are still to be heard among the Gnostics of Dyot-street and Tothill-fields. To prig is still to steal; to fib, to beat; lour, money; duds, clothes; prancers, horses; bouzing-ken, an alehouse; cove, a fellow; a sou’s baby, a pig, etc., etc. Bouzy.—See Boozy. Bow. Two (or many) strings to one’s bow, phr. (colloquial).—To have an alternative; more resources than one. The phrase sometimes formerly ran to have many strings to the bow. Numerous figurative expressions in all languages indicate the dominant pursuits of the respective nations; the English abounds in habitual phrases testifying to the engrossing avocations in all times. It is in this manner that to have two strings to one’s bow has passed into proverbial usage. In the fourteenth century—a Frenchman, Gaston de Foix, said of our ancestors, ‘Of bows I know not much, but who would know more, let him go to England, for that is truly their business.’ In the olden time, archery, as the dominant pursuit, gave figures of speech to the language—with the very pith of wisdom or Saxon sarcasm. If you made an enemy’s machinations recoil upon himself, you ‘outshot a man in his own bow.’ If you are a cautious man, ‘Always have two strings to your bow,’ and ‘Get the shaft-hand of your adversaries,’ or ‘Draw not thy bow before thy arrow be fixed.’ Of course, if you can ‘Kill two birds with one shaft,’ so much the better. Never ‘shoot wide of the mark’—that is, don’t make a foolish guess on a subject you know nothing about. Of useless, silly conversation, our ancestors said—‘The fool’s bolt is soon shot’; and if a man evidently exaggerated, he was said to ‘draw a long bow.’ If a man’s pretensions were not in accordance with the facts of his case—in other words, if he came under the category of ‘false pretences’—it was said that he ‘had a famous bow, but it was up at the Castle.’ Vain military and other boasters were the many who ‘talked of Robin Hood, but who never shot his bow.’ ‘An archer is known by his aim, and not by his arrows’; that is, if you are not answerable for your materials, at least show your skill in the modus operandi; or at all events, don’t depend entirely upon your tool. 1562. Heywood, Prov. and Epigr. (1867), 30. Ye have many stryngis to the bowe. [M.] 1588. Marprelate’s Epistle, p. 18 (ed. Arber). Doe you not thinke that I haue two strings to my bow. 1606. John Day, Isle of Gulls, Act ii., Sc. 2, p. 39. A wise man’s bow goes with a two-fold string. 1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. xvii. He was resolved to have two strings to his bow, that in case the one failed, he might use the other. (?) T. Brown, wks. IV., 115, ed. 1760. A man in Amsterdam is suffer’d to have but one religion, whereas in London he may have two strings to his bow. 1886. Mrs. Riddell, For Dick’s Sake, ch. iv., p. 11 (S.P.C.K.). She had a second string to her bow, which suited her far better; and she sent Dick back his letters and his presents, and a note beginning, ‘Dear sir,’ and ending ‘Yours truly.’ To draw the long bow, phr. (colloquial).—To exaggerate; to ‘gas’; to ‘talk up.’ 1819–24. Byron, Don Juan, xvi., 1. They ... draw the long bow better now than ever. To draw the bow up to the ear, phr. (colloquial).—To do a thing with alacrity; ‘to put on full steam’; to exert oneself to the utmost. 1860. Macmillan’s Mag., Feb., p. 258. So Miller, the coxswain, took to drawing the bow up to the ear at once. Bow-Catcher, subs. (common).—A kiss-curl. For synonyms, see Aggerawator. [A corruption of ‘beau-catcher.’ Cf., Bell-rope.] Bowdlerize, verb (colloquial).—To expurgate by removing offensive or questionable words from a book or writing. [From Dr. T. Bowdler’s method in editing an edition of Shakspeare, in which, to use his own words, ‘Those ... expressions are omitted which cannot with propriety be read aloud in a family.’] 1836. Gen. P. Thompson, Let. in Exerc. (1842), IV., 124. Among the names ... are many, like Hermes, Nereus, ... which modern ultra-christians would have thought formidably heathenish; while Epaphroditus and Narcissus they would probably have bowdlerized. 1870. Notes and Queries, 4 S., vi., p. 47. No profane hand shall dare, for me, to curtail my Chaucer, to bowdlerise my Shakspeare, or to mutilate my Milton. 1874. E. L. Linton, Patricia Kemball, ch. iii. Her uncle had not made her read much beside the Bible and Shakspeare, which last he had bowdlerised on his own account with a broad pen and very thick ink. From this comes bowdlerization, squeamish emasculation of a work; also bowdlerizer, etc. 1882. Westm. Review, April, p. 583. The bowdlerization which the Editor has thought necessary is done in an exceedingly awkward and clumsy fashion. Bower, subs. (American thieves’).—A prison—a transferred usage of the orthodox word. For synonyms, see Cage. Bowery Boy, Bowery Girl, subs. (American).—The ’Arry and ’Arriet of New York of some years ago. The Bowery is a well known thoroughfare in the American metropolis. [Formerly spelt bouwerij, and derived from bouw, tillage, or bouwen, to till, to cultivate, being equivalent to the modern Dutch word boerderij, a farm, or the business of farming. The Bowery was the farm of Governor Stuyvesant.] Cf., Blood tub. Bowlas, subs. (common).—Explained by quotation. 1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 208. Bowlas, or round tarts made of sugar, apple, and bread. Bowled, ppl. adj. (Winchester).—Croppled (q.v.). Bowler.—See Boler. Bowles, subs. (common).—Shoes. For synonyms, see Trotter-cases. Bowl Out, verb (popular).—To overcome; to get the better of; to defeat. [Formerly a cricketing term—to bowl a man out by displacing the bails.] Cf., Bowl over. Among thieves it signifies, in a transitive form, to be arrested or ‘lagged.’ 1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dictionary. Bowled out, when he [a thief] is ultimately taken, tried, and convicted [he] is said to be bowled out at last. 1817. Scott, Rob Roy, ch. iii. The polite and accomplished adventurer, who nicked you out of your money at White’s, or bowled you out of it at Marybone. 1852. F. E. Smedley, Lewis Arundel, ch. xxiv. ‘He’s handsomer than you are; if you don’t mind your play, he’ll bowl you out.’ 1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. ii., p. 121. Now and again a warder does get bowled out, and comes to grief. At the very least he loses his situation. Bowl Over, verb (popular).—To defeat; to worst. Cf., Bowl out. 1862. Cornhill Mag., p. 729. You have bowled me over, and I know I can’t get up again. 1878. Stanley, Through the Dark Continent, II., p. 291. I sent in a zinc bullet close to the ear, which bowled it [the rhinoceros] over, dead. 1880. A. Trollope, The Duke’s Children, ch. xlvii. He confessed to himself that he was completely bowled over,—‘knocked off his pins!’ Bowl the Hoop, subs. (rhyming slang).—Soup. Bowman, adv. (old).—See quotation. 1839. Harrison Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard [1889], p. 11. Help! ejaculated Wood, renewing his cries. Arrest! Jigger closed! shouted a hoarse voice in reply. All’s bowman, my covey. Fear nothing. We’ll be upon the ban-dogs before they can shake their trotters! Bowse.—See Booze. Bowsing Ken.—See Bousing ken. Bowsprit, subs. (popular).—The nose.—See Boltsprit. To have one’s bowsprit in parenthesis is to have it pulled. ‘To have one’s head in Coventry’ will occur to mind as another English slang phrase very similar in character. Bow-Window, subs. (common).—A stomach of large proportions. [A bay or bow-window is properly a curved window, hence the transference of the term to a big belly.] Also bow-windowed, i.e., big-bellied. 1840. Marryat, Poor Jack, ch. i. He was a very large man ... with what is termed a considerable bow-window in front. 1849–50. Thackeray, Pendennis, xxxiv. (1884), 334. Look at that very bow-windowed man. [M.] 1889. Daily Telegraph, May 6. She was what is vulgarly called bow-windowed. Bow-Wow, subs. (common).—1. A childish name for a dog. 1800. Cowper, Beau’s Reply. Let my obedience then excuse My disobedience now, Nor some reproof yourself refuse From your aggrieved bow-wow. 18(?82). Broadside Ballad, ‘I haven’t for a long time now.’ I used to have a sweetheart, once, A precious little pearl! Indeed she was—she really was, A very charming girl. I sang outside her door each night Till her father bought a big bow-wow, But I haven’t—haven’t— I haven’t for a long time now! 2. (old.)—A Bostonian—a term of contempt. 3. (popular.)—A cavalier; lover; specially applied to a man who dangles after a woman. Also see Tame cat. 1877. Chamb. Journal, 12 March, p. 173. Mrs. Brittomart was one of those who never tolerated a bow-wow—a species of animal well known in India—and never went to the hills as a ‘grass-widow.’ Bow-Wow-Mutton, subs. (old).—Dog’s flesh. [From bow-wow, a humorous term for a dog, + mutton, here used generically for meat.] Bow-Wow-Word, subs. (common).—A term applied sarcastically by Max Müller to words for which it is claimed that they are in imitation of natural sounds, i.e., onomatopoetic words, of which a full list will be found under Cachunk. Bowyer, subs. (old).—One who draws a ‘long bow’; a dealer in the marvellous; a teller of improbable stories; a liar.—See Long bow. Box, subs. (thieves’).—A prison cell. 1834. Harrison Ainsworth, Rookwood, p. 89. In a box of the stone-jug I was born, Of a hempen widow the kid forlorn Fake away. 1878. Notes and Queries, 5 S., x., p. 214. The box in the stone-jug is doubtless a cell. Verb (Westminster School).—To take possession of; ‘to bag.’ To be in a box, phr. (common).—To be cornered; in a fix; ‘stuck’ or ‘hung up.’ To be in the wrong box, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To be out of one’s element; to be in a false position; mistaken. Brewer traces this to Lord Lyttelton, who, being of rather a melancholy disposition, used to tell his friends that when he went to Vauxhall he was always supposing pleasure to be in the next box to his, or at least that he himself was so unhappily situated as always to be in the wrong box for it. The only objection to be raised to this story is that the phrase is a very old one, of which the derivation is now lost. 1554. Ridley (‘Foxe,’ 1838), vi., 438. Sir, quoth I, if you will hear how St. Augustine expoundeth that place, you shall perceive that you are in a wrong box. 1588. J. Udall, Distrephes, p. 31. I perceive that you and I are in a wrong box. 1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. xliii. ‘That, I grant you, must be confessed: doctor, I’m afraid we have got into the wrong box.’ 1836. Marryat, Midshipman Easy, ch. x. ‘Take care your rights of man don’t get you in the wrong box—there’s no arguing on board of a man-of-war.’ On the box, phr. (workmen’s).—A man when on strike and in receipt of strike pay is said to be on the box. 1889. Daily News, 19 Nov., p. 6, col. 7. The ‘Blackleg’ Question Arising. As these have to be allowed strike pay in order to keep them out of temptation, the number of men on the box, as they say in the North, may be taken to be a thousand. Box Harry, verbal phr. (commercial travellers’).—Among bag-men to take dinner and tea together; ‘dining out,’ i.e., doing without a meal at all. Box Hat, subs. (common).—A silk hat. For synonyms, see Cady. Box-Irons, subs. (old).—Shoes. For synonyms, see Trotter-cases. 1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 173. Shoes. Hockey-dockies, or Box-irons. Box of Dominoes, subs. phr. (popular).—The mouth. [From box + dominoes (q.v.), a slang term for the teeth.] For synonyms, see Potato-trap. Box the Compass, verbal phr. (nautical).—To repeat in succession, or irregularly, the thirty-two points of the compass; beginners on accomplishing this feat are said to be able to box the compass. 1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. vi. ‘A light, good-humoured, sensible wench, who knows very well how to box her compass.’ 1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp. Boxing, among sailors, is used to denote the rehearsing the several points of the compass in their proper order. [M.] 1836. Marryat, Midsh. Easy, xviii. I can raise a perpendicular ... and box the compass. 1867. Smyth, Sailors’ Word Book. To box the compass. Not only to repeat the names of the thirty-two points in order and backwards, but also to be able to answer any and all questions respecting its division. Box the Jesuit, verbal phr. (old).—See Cockroaches. Boy, subs. (popular).—1. Champagne. [A story, ben trovato, is told by the Sporting Times of June 30, 1882, as regards the origin of the phrase:—At a shooting party in Norfolk once, a youth was told off to supply the company with champagne. The day being hot and the sportsmen thirsty, cries of ‘Boy! Boy! Boy!’ were heard all day long. This tickling the fancy of the royal and noble party, the term ‘boy’ became applied to champagne.] Also called fiz and cham (q.v.). The latter form is nearly reproduced in the French slang, le champ; they also brutally speak of this wine as coco épileptique, another epithet being cidre élégant. 1882. Punch, vol. LXXXII., p. 69, col. 2. ‘The fine young London Gentleman.’ He will say that port and sherry his nice palate always cloy; He’ll nothing drink but ‘B. and S.’ and big magnums of the boy; He’s the darling of the Barmaid, and the honest waiter’s joy, As he quaffs his Pommery ‘Extra Sec,’ his ‘Giesler’ or ‘Ivroy,’ Like a fine young London Gentleman, Quite of the present style. 1882. Punch, vol. LXXXII., p. 155, col. 1. Dined with Tom and Corky at a new place they had discovered, and raved of. Of course, beastly dinner, but very good boy. Had two magnums of it. 1883. Punch, August 18, p. 84, col. 1. Shall it be B.-and-S., or bumpers of the boy? 2. (common.)—A hump on a man’s back. In low circles it is usual to speak of a humpbacked man as two persons—‘him and his boy,’ and from this much coarse fun and personality are at times evolved. 3. (Anglo-Indian and colonial.)—A servant of whatever age. Old boy, subs. (popular).—1. A familiar term of address. The old boy is one’s father; the ‘guv’nor,’ or ‘boss.’ Sometimes my boy. 1602. Shaks., Twel. N., ii., 4, 122. But di’de thy sister of her loue my boy? [M.] 1740. Richardson, Pamela, III., 380. Never fear, old boy, said Sir Charles, we’ll bear our Parts in Conversation. [M.] 2. The devil. For synonyms, see Skipper. 1835–40. Haliburton, Clockmaker, (1862), 140. As we invigorate the form of government (as we must do, or go to the old boy). Yellow boy, subs. (common).—A guinea; also, one pound sterling. [From the colour.] As will be seen the term is an old one. For synonyms, see Canary. 1663. Dryden, Wild Gallant, Act i. How now, yellow boys, by this good light! Sirrah, varlet, how came I by this gold? 1712. Arbuthnot, History of John Bull, pt. I., ch. vi. There wanted not yellow boys to fee counsel, hire witnesses, and bribe juries. 1840. Dickens, Old Curiosity Shop, ch. xlii. ‘The delight of picking up the money—the bright, shining yellow boys—and sweeping ’em into one’s pocket!’ Boys, subs. (popular).—This word is very generally in use in the plural. Thus, bookmakers speak of their fellows, in the aggregate, as the boys; and it must be noted as a curious fact that on race-courses the whole army of the swindling and thieving fraternity are so designated. Angry or roaring boys, subs. (old).—A set of young bucks, bloods or blades (q.v.), of noisy manners and ‘fire-eating’ tastes. Nares says ‘like the Mohawks’ (q.v.) described by the Spectator, they delighted to commit outrages and get into quarrels. Early mention is made of such characters. Wilson, in his Life of James I. [1653], gives an account of their origin:—The king minding his sports, many riotous demeanours crept into the kingdom; divers sects of vicious persons, going under the title of roaring boys, bravadoes, roysterers, etc., commit many insolencies; the streets swarm, night and day, with bloody quarrels, private duels fomented, etc. 1599. Greene, Tu Quoque, Old Plays, vii., 25. This is no angry, nor no roaring boy, but a blustering boy. 1609. Ben Jonson, Epicœne, i., 4. The doubtfulness of your phrase, believe it, sir, would breed you a quarrel once an hour with the terrible boys, if you should but keep ’em fellowship a day. 1610. Ben Jonson, Alchemist, iii., 4. Sir, not so young, but I have heard some speech Of the angry boys, and seen ’em take tobacco. 1616. Beaumont and Fletcher, Scornful Lady, iv., 1. Get thee another nose, that will be pull’d Off, by the angry boys, for thy conversion. Boys of the Holy Ground, subs. phr. (old).—Formerly [1800–25] bands of roughs infesting a well-known region in St. Giles.—See Holy Land. 1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, p. 7. For we are the boys of the holy ground, And we’ll dance upon nothing and turn us round. Brace, verb (American thieves’).—To get credit by swagger. Brace it through, phr. (American).—To succeed by dint of sheer impudence. Cf., Brace up, ‘to gird oneself up,’ ‘to buckle to.’ Bracelets, subs. (familiar).—Handcuffs; fetters for the wrist. [Derivation obvious.] French thieves call them les alliances, properly ‘wedding rings’; also la tartouve and les lacets. For synonyms, see Darbies. 1661. Wit and Drollery, quoted in Disraeli Cur. of Wit. (Tom O’Bedlams.) [Fetters are called bracelets in a song in this work.] 1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. lv., p. 371 (1874). Fetters confined my legs from stragling, and bracelets were clapt upon my arms. 1839. Harrison Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard (1889), p. 62. ‘Thank you—thank you!’ faltered Jack, in a voice full of emotion. ‘I’ll soon free you from these bracelets.’ 1848. W. H. Ainsworth, James the Second, bk. I., ch. ii. ‘It may be, young squire, you’ll have to go ... with a pair of bracelets on your wrists, and pay your next reck’nin’ to the gov’nor of Newgate.’ 1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. v., p. 359. He travels with other people who are also bound to London, and who, seeing him handcuffed, know very well his steel bracelets are not the insignia of honour. Brace of Shakes, phr. (popular).—In a moment; ‘jiffy’; ‘twinkling of an eye,’ etc.—See, however, Shakes. The expression is sometimes a couple, instead of a brace of shakes. A French equivalent is far-far. 1837. Barham, I. L. (Babes in the Wood). I’ll be back in a couple of shakes. 1868. Ouida, Under Two Flags, ch. xii. ‘But I’ve a trick with a ’oss that’ll set that sort o’ thing—if it ain’t gone too far, that is to say—right in a brace of shakes.’ 1884. Cornhill Mag., Jan., p. 101. ‘If there were any boys at Oppingbury now like those who were here when I was young, they’d break the window in a couple of shakes.’ Brace Up, verb (thieves’).—1. To pawn stolen goods—generally to their utmost value. 2. (American.)—To take a drink. [A transferred sense; from brace-up = to string up; to give firmness to.] 1888. Puck’s Library, Ap., p. 20. Come old boy, let’s brace up; a bumper will pull you together again. Bracket-Faced, adj. (old).—Ugly; hard-featured.—Grose. Bracket-Mug, subs. (common).—An ugly face. [From bracket (Cf., Bracket-faced) + mug, a slang term for the face.] For synonyms, see Hatchet-face. Brads, subs. (common).—A generic term for money. De Vaux (see quot.), though somewhat limiting the meaning, uses the term elsewhere as equivalent to ‘pence’ or ‘coppers.’ It possibly originated among shoemakers, brads being small rivets or nails largely employed by them. Cf., Horse-nails, and for synonyms, Actual. 1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dict. Brads, halfpence; also money in general. 1855. Punch, XXIX., 10. [Cf., Punch’s suggestion for a ‘fast’ partner in banks who should enquire of customers] ‘Will you take it in flimsies, or will you have it all in tin? Come, look sharp, my downy one, and I’ll fork out the brads like bricksy wicksy.’ 1868. Brewer, Phrase and Fable, s.v. ‘B Flats.’ Four B’s, essential for social success.—Blood, brains, brass, brads [money].—American. 1888–9. Payne, Eavesdropper, pt. II., ch. ii. They used such funny terms: ‘brads’ and ‘dibbs’ ... at last it was borne in upon me that they were talking about money. Tip the brads.—See quotation and Tip. 1821. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act i., Sc. 4. [To] tip the brads—and down with the dust, is to be at once good, great, handsome, accomplished, and everything that’s desirable—money, money, is your universal good,—only get into Tip Street, Jerry. Brag, subs. (thieves’).—A usurer; a Jew. Cf., Sixty-per-cent. Braggadocia, subs. (thieves’).—This is explained in Dickens’ Reprinted Pieces (in a footnote) to mean three months’ imprisonment as reputed thieves. It is difficult to trace the connection between this and the ordinary meaning of braggadocio. 1857. Dickens, Reprinted Pieces (Three ‘Detective’ Anecdotes, The Artful Touch), p. 253. ‘We don’t take much by this move, anyway, for nothing’s found upon ’em, and it’s only the braggadocia after all.’ Brain Pan, subs. (sporting).—1. The skull, or skull-cap. Also called brain-canister. Hotten quotes the term as of pugilistic origin, but it ante-dates the palmy days of the ‘Fancy’ by many years. Brain pan in this sense can, perhaps, hardly be classed as slang; not so, however, sense 2. The Scotch equivalent is harn-pan.—See quotations under sense 2. 2. (common.)—The head itself. For general synonyms, see Chump. b. 1529. Skelton, Elynoor Rommin, in Hart. Misc. (ed. Park), I., 417. Upon her brain pan Like an Egyptian Capped about. 1608. Dekker, Belman of London, in wks. (Grosart) III., 91. The spirit of her owne malt walkt in her brayne pan. 1609. Dekker, Gul’s Hornbook, Prœmium. Tarleton, Kemp, nor Singer ... never played the clownes more naturally then the arrantest Sot of you all shall if hee will but boyle my Instructions in his braine-pan. 1622. Massinger, Virgin-Martyr, ii., 2. Oh, sir, his brain-pan is a bed of snakes, Whose sting shoots through his eye-balls. 1817. Scott, Rob Roy, ch. xxxiii. ‘Weize a brace of balls through his harn-pan!’ 1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xi. ‘Were I your master, sirrah, ... I would make your brain-pan, as you call it, boil over, were you to speak a word in my presence before you were spoken to.’ Bramble, subs. (provincial slang).—In Kent a lawyer is so called; obviously a sarcastic allusion to the ‘tangles’ of the law. Bramble-Gelder (provincial slang).—A derisive appellation for an agriculturist; a Suffolk term. Bran, subs. (common).—A loaf. [In all likelihood this is a mere abbreviation of bran-loaf.] For synonyms, see Tommy. 1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. viii. He purchased a sufficiency of ready-dressed ham and a half-quartern loaf, or, as he himself expressed it, ‘a fourpenny bran!’ Ibid, p. 306. Two half-quartern brans, pound of best fresh. Branded Ticket, subs. (nautical).—Admiral Smyth [1867] quotes this as ‘a discharge given to an infamous man, on which his character is given, and the reason he is turned out of the service.’ Brandy Face, subs. (old).—A tippler; a drunkard, especially one whose favourite drink is brandy. a. 1687. Cotton, Æneid, II. Burl. (1692), 85. You goodman brandy-face, unfist her. [M.] Brandy-Faced, ppl. adj. (general).—Red-faced; bloated. [A reference to the effects upon the physiognomy of excessive indulgence in intoxicating drinks.] The expression is mentioned by Grose as early as 1785, but it is probably still older, for see quotation under brandy-face. 1859. G. A. Sala, Tw. Round Clock, 284. Hulking labourers and brandy-faced viragos, squabbling at tavern doors. Brandy is Latin for Goose or For Fish, phr. (popular).—This punning vulgarism appears first in Swift’s Polite Conversation, and Brewer thus states the philological equation. What is the Latin for Goose? (Answer) Brandy. The pun is on the word answer. Anser is the Latin for goose, which brandy follows as surely and quickly as an answer follows a question. 1738. Swift, Polite Conversation (conv. ii.). Lord Sm. Well, but after all, Tom, can you tell me what’s Latin for a goose? Nev. O my lord, I know that; Why, brandy is Latin for a goose, and Tace is Latin for a candle. 1835. Marryat, Jacob Faithful, ch. xi. ‘Art thou forward in thy learning? Canst thou tell me Latin for goose?’ ‘To be sure,’ replied Tom, ‘brandy.’ As regards the second form, namely, brandy is Latin for fish, the origin is more obscure, although it is to some extent explained in the following quotation. 1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, I., 125. We are told that the thirst and uneasy feeling at the stomach, frequently experienced after the use of the richer species of fish, have led to the employment of spirit to this kind of food. Hence, says Dr. Pereira, the vulgar proverb, brandy is Latin for fish. Brandy Pawnee, subs. (Anglo-Indian).—Brandy and water. [From brandy + Hindustan pānī, water. Cf., Parney, also a slang term for water.] 1816. Quiz, Grand Master, pref. And died at last with brandy pauny. [M.] 1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. i. ‘I’m sorry to see you, gentlemen, drinking brandy-pawnee,’ says he; ‘it plays the deuce with our youngest men in India.’ 1860. W. H. Russell, My Diary in India, I., p. 120. They had tiffin at two; hot lunch and ale and brandy-pawnee. Brandy Smash, subs. (popular).—An American drink concocted of brandy and crushed ice. Cf., Drinks. 1862. E. MacDermott, Popular Guide to International Exhibition, 1862, p. 185. In the vestibule of each refreshment room there is an American bar, where visitors may indulge in ‘juleps,’ ‘cocktails,’ ‘cobblers,’ ‘rattlesnakes,’ ‘gum-ticklers,’ ‘eye-openers,’ ‘flashes-o’-lightning,’ brandy-smashes, ‘stone-fences,’ and a variety of similar beverages. 1869. S. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Innocents Abroad. We procured the services of a gentleman experienced in the nomenclature of the American bar ... a bowing, aproned Frenchman stepped forward and said Que veulent les messieurs? Our general said (after naming several other drinks) give us a brandy smash; the Frenchman began to back away suspicious of the ominous vigour of the last order. 1883. Daily Telegraph, 2 July, p. 5, col. 3. [Brandy-smash is mentioned in a list of American drinks.] 1888. New York Evening Post, 24 Feb. Philological.—Gallic Tourist—‘I do not see how any one ever learns the absurd English. I read on the menu of drinks, ‘Sherree Cobblair,’ I find in the dictionary—a mender of shoes of sherry wine; ‘Santa Cruz Sour,’ La Sainte Croix acide; brandy smash, ‘Eau de vie écrasé.’ Bête de langue!’ Bran-Mash, subs. (military).—Bread sopped in coffee or tea. Cf., Floating batteries. Brass, subs. (popular).—1. Impudence; effrontery; brass being a type of unblushing hardness, shamelessness, etc. This colloquialism is by no means of yesterday, having been used by Shakspeare. Sometimes rendered bold as brass. Cf., Cheek, which also see for synonyms. 1594. Shakspeare, Love’s Labour Lost, v., 2, 395. Biron. Thus pour the stars down plagues for perjury. Can any face of brass hold longer out? 1701. Defoe, True Born Englishman, pt. II. By my Old Friend [The Devil], who printed in my face A needful competence of English brass. 1703. Farquhar, Inconstant, Act i., Sc. 2. Thou hast impudence to set a good face upon anything; I would change half my gold for half thy brass, with all my heart. 1740. North, Examen, p. 256. She in her defence made him appear such a rogue upon record, that the Chief Justice wondered he had the brass to appear in a court of justice. 1773. O. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, Act iii., Sc. 1. ‘To me he appears the most impudent piece of brass that ever spoke with a tongue.’ 1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, p. 68. Oh, what a face of brass was his, Who first at Congress show’d his phyz. 1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. lv., p. 462. ‘I haven’t brass enough in my composition, to see him in this place and under this charge.’ 1876. C. H. Wall, trans. Molière, vol. I., p. 18. Gorgibus is a simpleton, a boor, who will readily believe everything you say, provided ... you have brass enough. 1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 199. He started with a lot of tin, but had not sufficient brass or physique to stand the wear-and-tear of the life. 2. (common.)—A generic term for money. At one time money was made of brass, hence probably the slang usage. Cf., Tin. 1526. Tyndale, Matt. x., 9. Posses not golde, nor silver, nor brasse yn youre gerdels. 1597. Hall, Satires, IV., v., 12. Hirelings enow beside can be so base, Tho’ we should scorn each bribing varlet’s brass. 1860. Mrs. Gaskell, Sylvia’s Lovers, ch. xx. ‘There’ll be Fosters i’ th’ background, as one may say, to take t’ biggest share on t’ profits,’ said Bell. ‘Ay, ay, that’s but as it should be, for I reckon they’ll ha’ to find the brass the first.’ 1864. M. E. Braddon, Aurora Floyd, ch. xii. ‘Steeve’s a little too fond of the brass to murder any of you for nothing.’ 1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 129. ‘It’s noa use they’re telling us afterwards they ain’t collared the brass.’ 1889. Sporting Times, June 29. Billy Wells. What the dickens is all this about the hats? We have seventy-two telegrams and letters on the subject, and would prefer the brass. Brass-Bound and Copper Fastened, adj. phr. (nautical).—Said of a lad dressed in a midshipman’s uniform.—W. Clark Russell. Brass-Bounder, subs. (nautical).—A midshipman. Brasser, subs. (Christ’s Hospital).—A bully. Brass Farthing or Farde.—The lowest limit of value.—See quots. 1642. Rogers, Naaman, 33. As bare and beggarly as if he had not one brasse farthing. [M.] 1880. Punch’s Almanac, p. 5. Nobby button’-oler very well When one wants to do the ’eavy swell; Otherwise don’t care not one brass farden, For the best ever blowed in Covent Garden. 1880. Besant and Rice, Seamy Side, x., 78. I care not one brass farthing. Brass Knocker, subs. (vagrants’).—Broken victuals; the remains of a meal. Specially applied by beggars to the scraps often bestowed upon them in place of money. Brass-Plate Merchant, subs. (common).—Explained by quotation. 1851. H. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, II., p. 95. The brass-plate merchant, as he is called in the trade, being a person who merely procures orders for coal, gets some merchant who buys in the coal-market to execute them in his name, and manages to make a living by the profits of these transactions. Brassy, adj. (common).—Impudent; impertinent; shameless. Cf., Brass, sense 1. 1570–76. Lambarde, Peramb. Kent (1826), 156. To make them blush ... were they never so brassie and impudent. 1661. T. Middleton, Mayor of Quinborough, iii., 1. There’s no gallant so brassy impudent durst undertake the words that shall belong to’t. 1738–1819. Wolcot, P. Pindar, p. 73, ed. 1830. No. Mr. Gattle—Betty was too brassy, We never keep a servant that is saucy. 1862. Mrs. H. Wood, Channings, ch. xxxii. ‘I asked him to leave his name, sir, and he said Mr. Rowland Yorke knew his name quite well enough without having it left for him.’ ‘As brassy as that was he! I wish to goodness it was the fashion to have a cistern in your house roofs’! Brazen-Faced, ppl. adj. (common).—Shameless; impudent; unblushing. With a face as of brass, see Brass. Hotten remarks that such a person is sometimes said to have had his face rubbed with a brass candle-stick. 1571. Golding, Calvin on Ps., xii., 5. With such brazenfaste baldnesse. 1596. Nashe, Saffron Walden, in wks. III., 84. Amidst his impudent brazen-fac’d defamation of Doctor Ferne. 1693. Dryden, Juvenal, III., 133. Quick-witted, brazen-fac’d, with fluent tongues. 1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4 ed.), p. 10. Thus with an unparallell’d Impudence every brazen-fac’d Malefactor is harden’d in his Sin. 1874. Mrs. H. Wood, Johnny Ludlow, 1 S., viii., p. 137. ‘Of all the impudent brazen-faced rascals that are cheating the gallows, you must be the worst.’ Bread, subs. (old).—Employment; a transferred sense, the idea being—no work; no food. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Out of bread, out of employment. Bread and Butter Fashion, phr. (harlotry).—An expression descriptive of the sexual embrace. Bread and Butter Warehouse, phr. (old).—A nickname given to the old Ranelagh Gardens. An allusion to the scenes of infamy and debauchery which once characterized the place.—See Bread and butter fashion. Bread and Meat, subs. phr. (military).—The commissariat. Bread Bags, subs. (military).—A nickname given in the army and navy to any one connected with the victualling department, as a purser or purveyor in the commissariat. At one time called muckers, and amongst French soldiers riz-pain-sel. Bread-Barge, subs. (nautical).—The distributing basket or tray containing the rations of biscuits. Bread-Basket, subs. (popular).—The stomach. [An obvious allusion to that part of the body as a receptacle of food.] English Synonyms. Bread-room; dumpling-depôt; victualling-office; porridge-bowl. French Synonyms. La panetière (common: properly a bag or satchel wherein shepherds put their bread; a pouch. Akin to this is the slang term la pantière, the mouth); panier au pain (a literal translation of the English term); le jabot (popular: formerly heart or breast. Se remplir le jabot = to have a ‘blow out’); la halle aux croûtes (popular: this may be rendered literally as ‘Crust’ hall; also, a baker’s shop); la place d’armes (popular: the place of arms, stronghold or arsenal); la soute au pain (popular: soute = store-room, etc.; thus, the expression would correspond closely to victualling office or bread-basket. ‘Put that in your bread-basket’ is rendered by colle-toi ça dans le Fusil, i.e., ‘ram that in your gun’). Italian Synonym. The Fourbesque has fagiana (properly a chest or store house for beans.) 1753. Foote, Englishman in Paris, Act 1. Another came up to second time, but I let drive at the mark, made the soup-maigre rumble in his bread-basket, and laid him sprawling. 1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, p. 18. Neat milling this Round—what with clouts on the nob, Home hits in the bread-basket, clicks in the gob. 1821. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act iii., Sc. 1. Jerry. Now, doctor, take care of your bread-basket—eyes right, look to your napper. 1856. Reade, Never too Late to Mend, ch. lxx. When you can’t fill the bread-basket, shut it. Go to sleep till the Southern Cross comes out again. 1876. C. H. Wall, trans. Molière, vol. I., p. 194. And get as a reward an ugly piece of cold steel right through my bread-basket. Bread-Picker, subs. (Winchester College).—The four senior præfects used to appoint ‘Juniors’ to this office which was nominal, but which carried with it exemption from fagging at meal times. No ‘notion’ book states in what the office consisted, but it is supposed that it relates to times when Juniors had to secure the bread, etc., served out for their masters. Bread-Room, subs. (old).—The stomach. A variant of bread-basket, which see for synonyms. 1760–61. Smollett, Sir L. Greaves, vol. II., ch. v. He ordered the waiter ... to ... bring along-side a short allowance of brandy or grog, that he might cant a slug [dram] into his bread-room. Ibid, ch. xvii. The waiter ... returned with a quartern of brandy, which Crowe, snatching eagerly, started into his bread-room at one cant. Bread-Room Jack, subs. (nautical).—A purser’s servant. Break, subs. (thieves’).—A collection (of money) usually got up by a prisoner’s friends, either to defray the expenses of his defence, or as a ‘lift’ when leaving prison. Formerly and more generally applied to a pause in street performances to enable the hat to be passed round. Cf., Lead. French slang has une bouline with the same meaning; and, to make a collection is, among mountebanks, faire la manche. 1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., XL., 502. The mob got me up a break (collection), and I got between five or six foont (sovereigns). Break Down, subs. (Australian).—1. A measure of liquor.—See quotation. 1759. Frank Fowler, Southern Lights and Shadows, p. 53. To pay for liquor for another is to ‘stand,’ or to ‘shout,’ or to ‘sacrifice.’ The measure is called a ‘nobbler,’ or a break-down. 2. (common.)—A noisy dance; also, a convivial gathering. The term was, at first, specially applied to a negro dance, but is now in general use in England in a humorous sense. Also used as a verb, i.e., to break down, to dance riotously; to be boisterous and ‘spreeish.’ For synonyms, see Flare up. 1864. Yates, Broken to Harness, II., p. 54. And Mr. Pingle retired into the next room, where he indulged in the steps of a comic dance popular with burlesque actors, and known as a nigger break-down. 1873. Sat. Review, May, p. 676. We shall not be surprised to learn that they have serious thoughts of engaging a few comic singers and break-down dancers for their next campaign. 1883. Daily News, March 26, p. 2, col. 4. A patter song ... was twice redemanded, chiefly, it appeared, for the sake of a comical ‘break-down’ danced by the demented king. Break o’ Day Drum (American thieves’).—A drinking saloon which keeps its doors open all night. Break One’s Back, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To become bankrupt; an extension of the figurative usage to overpower; render nugatory; crush. 1601. Shakspeare, Henry VIII., Act i., Sc. 1. Aber. I do know Kinsmen of mine, three at the least, that have By this so sicken’d their estates, that never They shall abound as formerly. Buck. O, many Have broke their backs with laying manors on ’em For this great journey. 1620. Middleton, Chaste Maid, iii., 2. [The word is here used in the sense of bankruptcy and ruin.] 1887. Baring Gould, The Game-cocks, ch. xxviii. ‘They are very poor, and have made a hard fight to get on. I fear this change would break their backs.’ 1888. Ashton, Mod. Street Ballads, p. 13. The cesses, rates, and tithes nearly breaks their backs. Break One’s Egg.—See Crack one’s egg. Break Out All Over or In a Fresh Spot, etc., verbal phr. (American).—Expressions in common use—in the one case conveying an idea of completeness; and, in the other, of commencing some new undertaking, or assuming a different position whether in an argument or action. These usages may be traced to the phraseology of medicine. Break Shins, verbal phr. (general).—To borrow money. Hotten thinks the term is a variant of ‘to kick,’ formerly in use with a similar meaning. This may be so, but it is worthy of note that ‘to shin’ is colloquial in America in the sense of ‘to walk quickly,’ ‘to gad about’; but having particular reference also, in mercantile phraseology, to the action of a man who, finding himself short of money to meet his engagements, goes round to his friends to borrow what he requires. To bite the ear (q.v.) has the same signification; but for synonyms, see Shins. Break the Balls, verbal phr. (billiards).—To commence playing; a phrase very much akin to ‘breaking ground’; indeed few verbs enter more largely into figurative or colloquial combinations than break. Break the Molasses Jug, verbal phr. (American).—To come to grief; to make a mistake. Break the Neck or Back of Anything, verbal phr. (common).—To accomplish the major portion of a task; to be near the end of an undertaking; to be past the middle of same. Breaky-Leg, subs. (common).—1. Intoxicating drink of any kind. [A humorous allusion to one of the possible effects of confirmed drunkenness, or the weakness produced in one’s legs by tippling.] For all synonyms, see Drinks. 2. (thieves’.)—A shilling. 1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3 ed., p. 446. A shilling. Breake-leg. Breast Fleet, subs. (old).—Roman Catholics; so called from their practice of crossing themselves on the breast as an act of devotion. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. He (or she) belongs to the breast fleet; i.e., is a Roman Catholic; an appellation derived from their custom of beating their breasts in the confession of their sins. Breath. Change your breath, phr. (American).—An injunction to adopt a different manner or bearing. An offensive, slang expression which, originating in California, quickly ran its course through the Union. Breech, verb (schoolboys’).—To flog or be flogged; especially on the posteriors. This verb was formerly in literary use, but has now fallen into disuetude. 1557. Tusser, Husbandrie, ch. lxxiv., st. 6, p. 166 (S.D.S.). Maides, up I beseech yee Least Mistres doe breech yee. 1637. Massinger, Guardian, i., 1. How he looks! like a school-boy that had play’d the truant, And went to be breech’d. 1821. Scott, Kenilworth, ch. xxiv. ‘Go to,’ said Wayland, ‘thou art a prating boy, and should be breeched for thine assurance.’ Breeched, ppl. adj. (popular).—1. To be well off; to have plenty of money; ‘to be well breeched,’ to be in good circumstances. Cf., Ballasted. The French have a similar idiom. If a man is bankrupt he is said to be déculotté—unbreeched. Given in this sense by Vaux in his Flash Dictionary [1812]. Breeches. To wear the breeches, phr. (common).—A phrase said only of women; and signifying to rule; to usurp a husband’s prerogative; to be ‘master.’ An analogous phrase is ‘the grey mare is the better horse of the two.’ [The derivation is obviously an allusion to breeches as the symbol of authority, i.e., of manhood.] Murray traces the expression back to 1553, but it is, in reality, much older. It is found in French as early as 1450. 1450. Les Quinze Joyes de Mariage: La Dixiesme Joye. Edition Elzevirienne, Paris (1853), p. 113. Et sachez qu’il est avenu à aucuns que l’en leur faisoit boire de mauvès brouez affin de porter les braies ou pour autres choses pires. The idea is met with in English at about the same date in a carol, the burden of which is founded on it:— 14(?). Songs and Carols of the Fifteenth Century, Percy Soc. Pub., vol. XXIII., p. 65. Nova, nova, sawe you ever such, The moste mayster of the hows weryth no brych. Also a little later, from the same collection:— The Boke of Maid Emlyn, vol. VI., p. 21. All women be suche, Thoughe the man wear the breche. It is curious to note also that the expression has cropped up in most languages. The Dutch say, ‘De vrouw draagt ’er de broek’; the Germans, ‘Sie hat die Hosen.’ The Germans have also other ‘breeches’ sayings; as e.g., ‘Das Hertz ist ihm in die Hosen gefallen.’ Other illustrative quotations are:— 1557. Tusser, Husbandrie, ch. lxvii. st. 18, 156 (E.D.S.). Least some should talke, as is the speech, The good wiues’ husband weares no breech. 1591. Nashe, A Prognostication, in wks. II., 158. Diverse great stormes are this yere to be feared, especially in houses where the wives weare the breeches. 1663. T. Killigrew, Parson’s Wedding, ii., 3, in Dodsley’s O. P. (1780), xi., 413. Anything that may get rule; I love to wear the breeches. 1724. Swift, Misc. Poems, in wks. (1824) XIV., 199. Those men, who wore the breeches least, Call’d him a cuckold, fool, and beast. 1820. Coombe, Syntax, Consolation, ch. v. When she doth wear the breeches; And the poor fool dare not resist The terrors of her threat’ning fist. 1821. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act ii., Sc. 4. Mrs. T. No, no—no mischief—harkye, you did me a service just now in the street. Tom. I know I did, down by the pump. Mrs. T. Well, now, I’ll do you one—my husband is asleep: I have the keys; and I wear the breeches. Breeching, verbal subs. (schoolboys’).—A flogging. Like breech (q.v.), formerly in general use. 1520. Whittington, Vulg. (1527), 26. I studye to-day to-daye bycause I fere a brechyng. 1594. Nashe, Unfortunate Traveller, in wks. V., 149. Heeres a stirre thought I to my selfe after I was set at libertie, that is worse than an vpbrayding lesson after a britching. Breef.—See Brief. Breeze, subs. (general).—A row; quarrel; disturbance; coolness. [From breeze, a cool wind.] 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. To kick up a breeze, to breed a disturbance. 1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, p. 5. But, though we must hope for such good times as these, Yet, as something may happen to kick up a breeze. 1865. Saturday Review, 28 Jan., p. 119. ‘Don’t be angry; we’ve had our breeze. Shake hands!’ [M.] Brekker, subs. (Oxford University).—Breakfast. [Formed by phonetically taking the first syllable of ‘breakfast’ + er, a species of slang formation, which originated at Harrow.]—See ‘Comparative and Historical Study of Slang’ at the end of this work. Brevet Hell, subs. (American).—A nickname for a battle, which originated during the Civil War. The meaning is obvious enough. The carnage and bloodshed of a battle-field is only a degree short of the horrors of the theological ‘hell.’ Compare with brevet-wife, brevet-rank. Brevet-Wife, subs. (general).—A woman who, without being married to a man, lives with him, takes his name, and enjoys all the privileges of a wife. A transferred figurative sense of the legitimate word. Brew, verb (Marlborough School).—To make afternoon tea. Almost always carried on in couples, but sometimes three boys brew together. Brewer’s Horse, subs. (old).—A drunkard. For synonyms, see Elbow crooker. Brewing, verbal subs. (Marlborough College).—The making of afternoon tea.—See Brew. Brian o’ Linn, subs. (rhyming slang).—Gin. For synonyms, see Drinks. Briar, Brier, subs. (popular).—A colloquialism for ‘brier-wood pipe.’ The Erica arborea or White Heath, a native of the Mediterranean littoral is largely used in the manufacture of pipes. [Cf., Fr. bruyère = ‘heath.’] 1882. Graphic, Dec. 16, p. 683, col. 2. Nowadays, every third man you meet has a cigarette or a briar in his mouth. 1886. Harper’s Mag., 27 Dec. There is the ever-ready brier-root pipe loaded with Caporal. Brick, subs. (popular).—A good fellow; one whose staunchness and loyalty commend him to his fellows—a highly eulogistic epithet for one man to apply to another. Said to be of University origin, the simile being drawn from the classics. A writer in Hallberger’s Illustrated Magazine [1878, p. 635], says the expression is logically deduced in the following amusing manner. A brick is ‘deep-red,’ so a ‘deep-read’ man is a brick. The punning syllogism is carried further. To read like a brick is to read till you are deep-‘read’; a deep-read man is in University-phrase a ‘good man’; a good man is a jolly fellow with non-reading men, ergo a jolly fellow is a brick. It has, however, been pointed out that dedicatory columns of various forms have been found bearing Greek inscriptions, records of the great and virtuous. Some of these were circular and fluted pillars; but the Athenians are said to have dedicated square columns so inscribed, which gave rise to the style τετράγ = ωνος ἀνὴρ [see Aristotle, Eth., i., 10], one whose worth entitled him to honorary mention on some monumental stone of the form described. The anticipatory distinction might, therefore, be easily accorded to one worthy of such posthumous honours. From the meritorious notion of the rectangular stone or pillar we get the living type of genuine or supposititious worth—a regular brick. A further analogy may be drawn from the clayey basis of the brick, even in a state of combination with sand and ashes—those types of instability and decay—and we naturally acquire the notion of solidity, consistency, and strength. We are thus enabled to apply the above phrase to the child of clay, who may chance to resemble it in its constitution, whose moral materials and parts have been originally so carefully formed, so judiciously tempered and skilfully moulded, that, in spite of a frail and infirm nature, he has preserved his shape thus early given. The fiery test but determines his solidity; his sound, staunch, and unshrinking firmness, constitutes him a regular brick or hero, the attributes which especially qualify him for that metaphorical appellation. Cf., On the square; straight—true—clean as a die. 1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (Brothers of Birchington). In brief I don’t stick to declare, Father Dick, So they called him for short, was a regular brick; A metaphor taken, I have not the page aright, Out of an ethical work by the Stagyrite. 1850. Smedley, Frank Fairlegh, p. 10. ‘Mr. Fairlegh, let me introduce this gentleman, Mr. George Lawless; he is, if he will allow me to say so, one of the most rising young men of his generation, one of the firmest props of the glorious edifice of our rights and privileges.’ ‘A regular brick,’ interposed Coleman. 1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. x. ‘But the others are capital. There is that little chap who has just had the measles—he’s a dear little brick.’ 1856. T. Hughes, Tom Brown’s School-days, p. 100. He voted E.’s new crony a brick. 1876. George Eliot, Daniel Deronda, ch. xvi. Their brothers’ friend, declared by Hans to be the salvation of him, a fellow like nobody else, and, in fine, a brick. French Synonyms. Un bon gniasse (cads’ and thieves’); être d’un bon bouchon (to be a brick. Michel gives bouchon as ‘cadet’); un bon bougre (popular: Barrère says the word bougre is often used with a disparaging sense; bougre de cochon, ‘you dirty pig’; bougre de serin, ‘you ass.’ Littré derives bougre from Bulgarus, Bulgarian; the heretic Albigeois, who shared the religious ideas of some of the Bulgarians, received the name of bougres); un zig, zigue, zigorneau, zigard, or zingo (popular: Michel gives zig as camarade, ‘a comrade’; in Italian zigno or petit lézard which latter (lézard) signifies in French argot, a ‘bad lot’). Verb (American).—To punish a man by bringing the knees close up to the chin, and lashing the arms tightly to the knees—a species of trussing. Like a brick—like bricks—(and in an intensive form) like a thousand of bricks, adv. phr. (common).— With energy; alacrity; thoroughly; vehemently and with much display. [Derived partly attributively from brick (q.v.), and partly in allusion to the crash of failing bricks.] There are numerous similes of a kindred character; e.g., Like beans; Like one o’clock; Like blazes, all of which see. 1835. Dickens, Sketches, p. 139. Bump they [cab and horse] cums agin the post, and out flies the fare like bricks. 1837. Barham, I. L. (Ingoldsby Penance). For the Friar to his skirts closely sticks, ‘Running after him,’—so said the Abbot,—like bricks! 1860. New Orleans Picayune, April 27 (Police Report). ‘When it came to the breakdown, Your Honor, he kicked up a row like a drove of contrary mules, and when we wanted to turn him out, he fell upon us like a thousand of bricks, and threatened to make minced meat of the police and every one of us.’ 1864. Western World, March 5. ‘When Mr. Nye had finished, Mr. Stewart rose, and with his irresistible logic and impressive language came down upon him like a thousand of bricks, till he was utterly crushed and demolished.’ Brick in the hat, phr. (American).—A drunken man is said to have a brick in his hat, the allusion being to top-heaviness and inability to preserve a steady gait. Brick-duster.—See Brickfielder. Brickdusts, subs. (military).—The Fifty-third Regiment of Foot, so nicknamed from its facings, which are scarlet. Another slang appellation is ‘The Old Five-and-Threepennies,’ from its number and the daily pay of an ensign. Brickfielder or Brickduster, subs. (Australian colloquial).—In Sydney the name given to a dust or sand-storm brought by southerly winds from sand hills locally known as the Brickfields—hence the name. Also called the buster or southerly burster. 18(?). Munday, Our Antipodes. In October, 1848, as I find by my diary, I witnessed a fine instance of a nocturnal brickfielder. Awakened by the roaring of the wind I arose and looked out. It was bright moonlight, or it would have been bright but for the clouds of dust, which, impelled by a perfect hurricane, curled up from the earth, and absolutely muffled the fair face of the planet. Pulverised specimens of every kind and colour of soil within two miles of Sydney, flew past the house high over the chimney tops in lurid whirl-winds, now white, now red. It had all the appearance of an American prairie fire, barring the fire. 1853. Fraser’s Mag., XLVIII., 515. What the Sydney people call a brickfielder. 1886. Cowan, Charcoal Sk. The buster and brickfielder: Austral red-dust blizzard and red-hot simoon. Bricklayer, subs. (clerical).—A clergyman. [It has been hazarded that the term is a familiar corruption of Rubricklayer, to denote general character for Rubrical exactness—said of men who not only lay down Liturgical law, but obey it. With more propriety, however, may it be held as referring to the important part taken by the mediæval clergy in ecclesiastical architecture. Mr. Thomas Boys, in the course of an interesting article on the subject [N. and Q., 2 S., vii., 115], traces its historical derivation somewhat as follows:—It is well known how in former days the building of cathedrals and other sacred edifices was patronised and promoted both by the dignitaries and by the clergy generally; but it is not, perhaps, matter of equal notoriety that many chapters and collegiate bodies had a functionary called a workman (operarius), on whom devolved the charge of repairing and maintaining the sacred fabric, and who was often one of their own number. In fact, he was of the dignitaries of the church. ‘Operarius, Dignitas, in Collegiis Canonicorum, et Monasteriis, cui operibus publicis vacare incumbit’ (Carpenter). The office of this operarius or workman was called ‘operaria.’ ‘Operaria. Dignitas Operarii in collegiis canonicorum et monasteriis’ (ib.). In Spain, the clerical operarius was called by the corresponding Spanish name, obrero (a workman). ‘Obrero. Se llama tambien el que cuida de las obras, en las Iglesias o Comunidades, que en algunas Cathedrales es dignidad’ (Dicc. de la Ac. Esp.); i.e., in some cathedrals the office made the holder of it a dignitary. Salazar de Mendoza, in his ‘Cronica del Cardenal Don R. G. de Mendoça,’ tells us that, the Cardinal having conceded to the Chapter of the cathedral at Toledo, the administration of the building-fund, the Chapter in 1485, nominated as workman (obrero) the Canon Juan de Contreras (Lib. II., cap. 62, par. 2). May we not conjecture, then, that, if clergymen are now provincially called bricklayers, it is because their mediæval predecessors were, with a special reference to building, called ‘workmen’? Possibly, from the appointment of certain ecclesiastics in former days under the name of operarii or workmen, for the repair and maintenance of public edifices in the University of Oxford, the title of bricklayers may have passed, in course of time, to the neighbouring clergy of Oxon and Berks. The use of bricks, which ceased in this country after the decline of the Roman power, is stated by Hallam to have been reintroduced, probably from Flanders, in the early part of the fourteenth century. With perhaps equal propriety the term [bricklayer] is thought to refer to the οἰκοδομὴ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ (Eph. iv., 12), trusting that they, like St. Paul, are wise ‘master builders’; builders on the only true foundation, ‘which is Jesus Christ.’ Edify, edificare οἰκοδομεῖν have primary reference to houses built with hands, as well as to the spiritual one of building up the Church of Christ.] Bricklayer’s Clerk, subs. (nautical).—One of the hundred names given to a lubberly sailor.—W. Clark Russell. For synonyms, see Strawyarder, and Cf., Bail. Bricks, subs. (Wellington College).—A sort of pudding. Bridge, subs. (cards’).—A cheating trick at cards, by which any particular card is cut by previously curving it by the pressure of the hand. Used in France as well as in England, and termed in the Parisian Argot faire le pont sec, also couper dans le pont. The modus operandi of avoiding, or rather of neutralizing the cut, which is the very backbone of the card-sharper’s art, is somewhat difficult, and is generally performed by one of two methods, termed respectively the ‘bridge’ and the ‘pass.’ In the former method the sharper, at the end of his shuffle—the cards being still held backs uppermost in the left hand—takes some twelve or fifteen of the underneath cards lengthwise between the thumb and first and second fingers of the right hand and throws them on the top of the pack, at the same time giving them a slight squeeze outwards which causes them to assume an imperceptible curve. When placed on the table to be cut, the pack will now, owing to this curve or ‘bridge,’ present in the middle a very slight gap almost invisible to the eye; and experience shows that the odds are twenty to one that the adversary will cut exactly at that very spot, thus taking off the twelve or fifteen cards thrown on the top and bringing the ‘readied’ portion of the pack back to its original position. 1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, I., p. 266. I got my living by card-playing in the low lodging-houses ... I worked the oracle; they were not up to it. I put the first and seconds on, and the bridge too. 1859. Lever, Davenport Dunn, I., p. 251. I’ve found out the way that Yankee fellows does the king. It’s not the common bridge that every body knows. 1866. Yates, Black Sheep, I., p. 70. The genius which had hitherto been confined to bridging a pack of cards, or ‘securing’ a die, talking over a flat, or winning money of a greenhorn, was to have its vent in launching a great City Company. Verb (old).—Explained by quotation. 1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dict. To bridge a person, or to throw him over the bridge, is ... to deceive him by betraying the confidence he has reposed in you. Bridle-Cull, subs. (old).—A highwayman. [From bridle + cull, a ‘man.’] A French equivalent is un garcon de campagne; also un grinche de cambrouse; aller au trimar or trimard, ‘to become a highwayman.’ Trimar = road or ‘toby.’ 1754. Fielding, Jonathan Wild, bk. I., ch. v. A booty of £10 looks as great in the eye of a bridle-cull, and gives as much real happiness to his fancy, as that of as many thousands to the statesman. Bridport or Brydport Dagger, subs. (old).—The hangman’s rope. ‘To be stabbed with a Bridport Dagger’ signifies ‘to be hanged.’ For synonyms, see Horse’s nightcap, and Cf., Anodyne necklace. 1662. Fuller, Worthies, Dorset (I., 310). ‘Stab’d with a Brydport dagger.’ That is, hang’d or executed at the Gallowes; the best, if not the most, hemp (for the quantity of ground) growing about Brydport. 1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary, etc. (1811), p. 67. Stabbed with a Brydport dagger. That is hanged. Great quantity of hemp is grown about this town; and, on account of its superior qualities, Fuller says there was an ancient statute, now disused, that the cables for the royal navy should be made thereabouts. 1807. Southey, Espriella’s Letters, i., 35 (3 ed.). The neighbourhood is so proverbially productive of hemp, that when a man is hanged, they have a vulgar saying, that he has been stabbed with a Bridport dagger. Brief, subs. (thieves’).—A ticket of any kind, whether railway pass, pawnbrokers’ duplicate, or ticket for a raffle; also a pocket book. Hence briefless (q.v.). 1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., XL., 501. I took a brief (ticket) to London Bridge. 1885. Daily Telegraph, Aug. 18, p. 3, col. 2. His usual line of business was ‘brief-snatching,’ i.e., hovering about the crowd that surrounds a small bookmaker, and snatching from the hands of the unwary the credential they with rash eagerness exhibit, and which they desire to exchange with the man they have bet with for their winnings. 1889. Sporting Times, 6 July. They copped the briefs at the next station, and he changed carriages. Briefless, adj. (common).—Ticketless.—See Brief. 1889. Bird o’ Freedom, Aug. 7, p. 3. Following close at the heels of Newman, I soon found myself within the Aquarium, all briefless as I was, and without having been asked any questions. Briefs or Breefs, subs. (card-sharpers’).—Cards tampered with for the purpose of swindling.—See Bridge, Concaves, and Convexes, Longs, and Shorts, Reflectors, etc. [From the German briefe, which Baron Heinecken says was the name given to the cards manufactured at Ulm. Brief is also the synonym for a card in the German Rothwalsch dialect, and briefen is to play at cards.] 1529. [Edited by] Luther, Liber Vagatorum (1860), p. 47. ‘Item—beware of the Joners (gamblers), who practice Beseflery with the brief (cheating at cards), who deal falsely and cut one for the other, cheat with Boglein and spies, pick one brief from the ground, and another from a cupboard,’ etc. 1720. Old Book of Games, quoted by Hotten. ‘Take a pack of cards and open them, then take out all the honours ... and cut a little from the edges of the rest all alike, so as to make the honours broader than the rest, so that when your adversary cuts to you, you are certain of an honour. When you cut to your adversary cut at the ends, and then it is a chance if you cut him an honour, because the cards at the ends are all of a length. Thus you may make breefs end-ways as well as side-ways.’ Brief-Snatcher, subs. (thieves’).—Pocket-book thieves. [From brief (q.v., sense 1), slang term for a pocket-book, + snatcher.] Brigh, subs. (thieves’).—A pocket. 1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., XL., 502. Having a new suit of clobber on me, and about fifty blow in my brigh (pocket). Some English Synonyms are:—Cly, skyrocket. French Synonyms are une grande; une profonde, parfonde or prophête (thieves’: literally deep; also used for ‘cave’ or ‘cellar’); une fouillouse (thieves’: this term is an old one. Fouille = a ‘digging’ or excavation. There are various forms—foulle, felouse, filoche); une gueularde (thieves’: gueulard = wallet in slang, but properly signifies a stove); une baguenaude (thieves’ and cads’: properly ‘a bladder-nut’); une balade or ballade; une valade (thieves’: from avaler, to swallow up); une fondrière (thieves’); un four banal (thieves’: either used to signify a ‘pocket,’ a ‘false pocket,’ or an ‘omnibus’); une sonde (literally sonde = probe). Bright in the Eye, subs. (common).—Slightly tipsy. [An allusion to the sparkling appearance of the eyes at an early stage of intoxication; subsequently they become dull and sleepy.] For synonyms, see Screwed. Brighton Tipper, subs.—A peculiar kind of ale.—See quotation. 1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, I., p. 347. Requiring ... a pint of the celebrated staggering ale, or Real Old Brighton Tipper, at supper. Ibid, p. 447. If they draws the Brighton Tipper here, I takes that ale at night, my love. Brim, subs. (old).—1. A prostitute. [A contraction of brimstone (q.v.)] For synonyms, see Barrack-hack. 1730–6. Bailey. Brim [q. a contraction of Brimstone], a common strumpet. [M.] 1764. T. Brydges, Homer Travest. (1797), i., 173. Can mortal scoundrels thee [Hera] perplex, And the great brim of brimstones vex? 1808. Jamieson. Brim, a cant term for a trull.—Loth. 2. (common).—Nowadays the term signifies an angry, violent woman, or a termagant, without reference to moral character. An equivalent French term is une chipie. Cf., Brimstone. 1799. Whim of the Day. She raved, she abused me, and splenetic was; She’s a vixen, she’s a brim, zounds! She’s all that is bad. Brimstone, subs. (old).—1. A violent tempered woman; a virago; a spitfire. [A reference to the inflammable character of the mineral.] 1712. Bp. Burnet, in Walpole’s Reminiscences (1819), p. 75. ‘Oh, madam,’ said the bishop, ‘do not you know what a brimstone of a wife he had?’ 1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. vi. ‘She is ... not a brimstone, like Kate Koddle, of Chatham.’ 1760. C. Johnston, Chrysal, II., 190. I hate the law damnably ever since I lost a year’s pay for hindering our boatswain’s mate’s brother from beating his wife. The brimstone swore I beat her husband, and so I paid for meddling. 1859. H. Kingsley, Geoffrey Hamlyn, ch. xxiii. Who seemed, too, to have a temper of her own, and promised, under circumstances, to turn out a bit of a b—mst—ne. 2. (old.)—A prostitute. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack. 1785. Grose. Brim (abbreviation of brimstone), an abandoned woman; perhaps originally only a passionate or irascible woman, compared to brimstone for its inflammability. Briney or Briny, subs. (popular).—The sea. A ‘dip in the briney’ once a year is a great attraction to Cockney excursionists. Hotten tells a story of one excursionist saying to another, as they stripped in a double machine, ‘Why, ’Arry what dirty feet you’ve got!’ ‘’Ave I; well yer see I wasn’t down last year.’ [From the adj. signifying, ‘of or pertaining to brine or the sea.’] 1856. Whyte Melville, Kate Coventry, ch. xiv. The luckless plight in which a stout gentleman had found himself, by the temporary loss of all his apparel, while he was disporting in the briny. 1881. Punch, Jan. 15, p. 14. Grigsby. Hullo, my Jellaby, you here! Come and take a dip in the briny, old man. I’m sure you look as if you wanted it. Postlethwaite. Thanks, no. I never bathe. I always see myself so dreadfully foreshortened in the Water, you know! 1889. Sporting Times, June 29. Next day bathing, returning from which we beheld a curious sight, three nymphs carrying down to the strand a bath in which one of them was, apparently with a curious mistrust of the sea, going to try the briny. English Synonyms. Herring pond; big pond; big drink; the puddle; Davy’s locker. French Synonyms. La grande tasse (familiar: properly ‘the big cup.’ Boire dans la grande tasse, ‘to be drowned’); la grande bleue (popular: the great blue—an allusion to the colour of deep sea water); le grand salé (popular: literally ‘the great salt’); le pré salé (popular: properly the salted or briny meadow.) Bring Down the House, verbal phr. (general).—To elicit loud applause; and, still more figuratively, to be successful. [The figure of speech is that demonstrative applause will cause the walls to give way. Cf., To raise the roof off.] 1754. World, II., No. 76, 125. His apprehension that your statues will bring the house down. 1853. Rev. E. Bradley (‘Cuthbert Bede’), Adventures of Verdant Green, II., p. 23. Why, it would surpass the British sailor’s broadsword combat for six, and bring down the house. 1872. Forster, Life of Charles Dickens, ch. xliv. (IV., p. 252). ‘And give us your applause, for that is always just’! which brought down the house with rapture. 1877. Mrs. Riddell, Her Mother’s Darling, II., p. 61 (ch. xii). I do not fancy she would ever forgive any of us if Honie were to bring down the house at Elm Vale. 1889. Bird o’ Freedom, Aug. 7, p. 3. But Samson’s crowning feat of all was to break with his fist two steel chains, suspended from a couple of posts. This fairly brought down the house. Brisket-Beater, subs. (old).—A Roman Catholic. Cf., Breast fleet and Craw-thumper, synonymous terms. Quoted by Grose [1785]. Bristles or Bristle Dice, subs. (old).—A method of ‘cogging’ dice by inserting bristles into them, and thus influencing the position of the cubes when ‘thrown.’ 1532. Dice Play (1050), 28. Bristle dice, be now too gross a practice to be put in use. [M.] 1680. Cotton, in Singer Hist. Cards, 335. This they do by false dice, as ... By bristle-dice. [M.] 1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xxiii. ‘Men talk of high and low dice, Fulhams and bristles ... and a hundred ways of rooking besides.’ Bristol Milk, subs. (old).—Sherry. [An allusion to sherry being formerly a large import of the city of Bristol.] For synonyms, see Drinks. 1644. Prynne and Walker, Fiennes’ Trial, 78. Good store of Bristol milk, strong wines and waters. [M.] 1662. Fuller, Worthies, Bristol. ‘Bristol milk’; this metaphorical milk, whereby Xeres or Sherry Sack is intended. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bristol milk, a Spanish wine called sherry, much drank at that place, particularly in the morning. 1849–61. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I., iii. A rich beverage made of the best Spanish wine, and celebrated ... as Bristol milk. Broach Claret, verbal phr. (pugilistic).—To draw blood.—See, however, Claret. Broad and Shallow, phr. (popular).—An epithet applied to the so-called ‘Broad Church,’ in contradistinction to the ‘High’ and ‘Low’ Churches.—See High and dry. 1886. Graphic, 10 April, p. 399. In the Church have we not the three schools of High and Dry, Low and Slow, and Broad and Shallow? Broadbottoms, subs. (political).—A nickname given to two Coalition Governments, one in the last century [1741], and the other in 1807.—See quots. A pamphlet dated April 18, 1807, has reference to the latter. Its full title is:—‘The pigs possessed, or the broadbottom’d litter running headlong into the Sea of Perdition.’ The characters are George III., as the British farmer; Lords Sidmouth, Ellenborough, Howick (‘Test Act’); Mr. Windham; Lords Holland, Walpole, Carlisle St. Vincent; Earls Temple (‘Last Stake’), Grenville (‘Catholic Bill’), and of Derby; Lords Erskine, Lauderdale (a Scotch pig), H. Petty, and Moira; the Duke of Bedford, who was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, marked ‘Erin go Bragh’; Earl Spencer, Marquis of Buckingham (‘Family’), R. B. Sheridan (Harlequin), Courtney, Tierney, and Whitbread (‘Entire’). Courtney is placed in profile between Ellenborough and Sidmouth. He was an intimate friend of Fox. This is said to be the only portrait of him. The print is a supplement to another styled ‘More Pigs than Teats.’ The pigs represent the Ministers described commonly by the phrase ‘All the Talents,’ or the ‘Broad-Bottoms’ who were succeeded, April, 1807, by the Duke of Portland and his supporters. The former are not to be confounded with an earlier ‘Broad-Bottom’ Administration. The latter was commemorated in the satirical inscription for Fox’s tomb, Hic jacet Pater Broad-Bottomos. 1742. Walpole, Lett. to Mann (1833), No. 22, Feb. 18, vol. I., p. 106. The Tories declare against any farther prosecution—if Tories there are, for now one heard of nothing but the broad-bottom; it is the reigning cant word, and means, the taking all parties and people, indifferently, into the ministry. 1843. Macaulay, Historical Essays, II., p. 244. The Pelhams had forced the King, much against his will, to part with Lord Carteret.... They proceeded, after this victory, to form the Government on that basis, called by the cant name of the ‘broad-bottom.’ 1863. Jeaffreson, Live It Down, I., p. 249. The star of Granville is falling, that of Pelham is in the ascendant; and the great coalition on ‘The Br. B.’ is managing the affairs of the State. 1871. Miss Braddon, Robert Ainsleigh, I., p. 37. A scathing reply from the polished chief of the famous Br. B. Administration. 1887. Pol. Slang, in Cornhill Mag., June, p. 628. A Coalition Government in the last century was known by the apt nickname of the ‘Broad Bottom.’ Broadbrim, subs. (common).—A Quaker. [The origin of this expression is to be found in the hat once peculiar to the ‘Society of Friends.’ Hotten says the epithet is now used of any quiet, sedate, old man.] 1712. Spectator, No. 276. [Broad-brim is used as the name of a Quaker correspondent.] 1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. VII., ch. x. This the Quaker had observed, and this, added to the rest of his behaviour, inspired honest broad-brim with a conceit that his companion was, in reality, out of his senses. 1864. Reader (quoted in Notes and Queries, 5 S., ix., p. 263). Broadbrim, a Quaker. This word clearly owes its origin to the peculiar hat worn by the Society of Friends. 1876. Jas. Grant, One of the Six Hundred, ch. i. The sly broad-brim, and popularity-hunters of the Peace Society sent a deputation to the Emperor Nicholas. Broad-Cooper, subs. (brewers’).—A person employed by brewers to negotiate with publicans. Broad Coves, subs. (old).—Card-sharpers. [From broads (q.v.), cards, + cove (q.v.), a man.] The modern term for swindling at cards is broad faking (q.v.). A French equivalent is un brêmeur. For synonyms, see Rook. 1821. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act ii., Sc. 5. Your swell broad coves, with all their airs Can’t match the kids near Wapping stairs, They are so down and knowing; Of lowest life you’ll see the best, At Maces’s, All-max, in the East; So let’s at once be going: Come, toddle along, toddle along, etc. Broad-Faking, subs. (card-sharpers’).—Playing at cards. Generally used, however, to denote ‘work’ of the three card and kindred descriptions. Broad-Fencer, subs. (thieves’).—A ‘k’rect card’ seller at races. [From broad (q.v.), a card, + fence or fencer, a ‘tradesman.’] Broads, subs. (general).—Playing cards.—See Stock broads. 1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 142. Who are continually looking out for flats, in order to do them upon the broads, that is cards. 1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dict. Broads, cards; a person expert at which is said to be a good broad-player. 1834. Harrison Ainsworth, Rookwood, IV., ii. I nick the broads. 1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iv., p. 262. He ... became one of a gang who practised with the broads card-sharping and the ‘confidence trick.’ Broadsman, subs. (common).—A card-sharper. [From broads = cards + man.] Formerly called broad cove (q.v.). For synonyms, see Rook. 1879. J. W. Horsley, ‘Autobiography of a Thief,’ in Macm. Mag., XL., 502. Broadsmen (card-sharpers). 1888. G. R. Sims, in Cass. Sat. Journal, 31 March, p. 7. The broadsman is a card-sharper. Broady, subs. (common).—1. Cloth. [A corruption of broad-cloth.] 1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, I., p. 54. Gentlemen finding their own broady can be accommodated. 1883. Daily Telegraph, August 7, p. 6, col. 2. The prospectus further intimated that ... gentlemen ‘finding their own broady ... could be accommodated.’ 2. (thieves’.)—Anything worth stealing.—See Broady worker. Broady Worker, subs. (thieves’).—A man who goes round selling vile shoddy stuff under the pretence that it is excellent material, which has been ‘got on the cross,’ i.e., stolen. Brock, verb (Winchester College).—To bully; to tease; to badger. [Brock is a north country and Hampshire name for a badger.] In French military schools this is called faire une brimade or faire brimer. Brockster, subs. (Winchester College).—A bully.—See Brock. Brogues, subs. (Christ’s Hospital).—Breeches. This is, in reality, an obsolete old English term which has survived among the ‘Blues.’ Broiled or Boiled Crow. To eat boiled crow.—A newspaper editor, who is obliged by his ‘party’ or other outside influences, to advocate ‘principles’ different from those which he supported a short time before, is said to ‘eat boiled crow.’ Originally the phrase was simply to eat crow, and the following account is that currently accepted as to its derivation. 1888. Atlanta Constitution. During the unpleasantness between the States and England, there were located on opposite sides of the Niagara river a British and an American fort, and during an armistice the soldiers of both garrisons were accustomed to go hunting. Among the American troops was one long, lank, stuttering specimen of the genus Yankee, who would persist, in spite of orders to the contrary, in going across the river on his hunting expeditions. One day when on the Canada side he had had poor luck and got nothing, but resolved not to go back entirely empty handed. While passing through the grounds of an English gentleman, he spied a crow, and, blazing away, brought it down. The Englishman had witnessed the shot and resolved to punish the offender for poaching on his private grounds. As the Yankee was loading his gun he approached, and, complimenting him on his good shot, asked to look at his gun. The unsuspecting Yankee handed it to him, and the Briton, bringing the gun to his shoulder and covering the Yankee, abused him for trespassing on his grounds, and ordered him, on pain of death, to take a bite out of the crow. The soldier begged and pleaded, but to no avail. The Englishman had the drop on him, so he finally bit a piece from the breast of the crow. The Englishman, after warning him to keep off his premises in the future, handed him back his gun and bade him clear out. No sooner was his rifle returned than he covered the Briton and ordered him to finish the crow. Then it was the Englishman’s turn to beg off, but the Yankee was firm, and the Englishman, with many a wry face, did succeed in downing several bites of the unsavoury bird. His wounded honour being appeased, the Yankee betook himself back to the fort. The Englishman the next day went to the American commander and told his version of the affair, and demanded that the culprit be punished. From the description given, the American officer knew that the offender must have been the stuttering soldier, and ordered him to be brought before them. When he came in the captain asked him if he had ever seen the gentleman before. The Yankee shifted uneasily from one foot to the other, and, after several attempts, finally answered that he had. ‘When and under what circumstances?’ asked the officer. ‘I d-dined with him y-y-yesterday, captin,’ stuttered the soldier. The story goes that his wit saved the soldier from punishment. Broke. Dead broke (q.v.)—Stone broke (q.v.), adj. (common).—Ruined; decayed; hard up—said of health or pecuniary circumstances. The French slang has n’avoir pas un radis, literally ‘not to have a radish’; but for all synonyms, see Dead-broke. 1887. G. R. Sims, How the Poor Live, p. 16. ‘How do you do when you’re stone broke?’ I ask him. ‘Well, sir, sometimes I comes across a gentleman as gives me a bob and starts me again.’ 1889. Pall Mall Gaz., Aug. 14. I see that Sullivan made 21,000 dols. out of his fight, but as he was ‘dead broke’ before the battle, there won’t be much of it left. Nevertheless, Sullivan has received hundreds of begging letters from folks who want him to pay off mortgages on their homes or buy them houses and lots and things of that sort. Broken Feather in One’s Wing, subs. phr. (popular).—A blot on one’s character. 1880. Mrs. Oliphant, Phœbe, jun., ii., 6. If an angel were to walk about, Mrs. Sam Hurst would never rest till she had found out where he came from. And perhaps whether he had a broken feather in his wing. Broken-Kneed, ppl. adj. (common).—Said of a girl or woman who has been seduced. Cf., Ankle and Broken legged; for synonyms, see Dock and Leg. In French theatrical slang, avoir mal aux genoux. Broken Legged, ppl. adj. (common).—Seduced.—See Dock and Leg for synonyms. Brolly, subs. (general).—An umbrella. Term first used at Winchester, being subsequently adopted at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities. 1885. Punch, June 6, p. 273. Pair o’ pattens and brolly are more in your line. Broncho, adj. (American).—Unruly; wild; savage. The epithet is derived from broncho, the name of the native horse of California, a somewhat tricky and uncertain quadruped. The term is familiarly applied to horses that buck and show other signs of vice. The Spanish signification of the word is rough and crabbed little beast, and in truth he deserves this name. 1888. Francis, Saddle and Mocassin. Oh! I don’t know. He’d been singing the music to ‘em’ (imitating them). Sam’s too broncho. Broncho-Buster, subs. (American).—A breaker-in of bronchos; also called a flash-rider. [From broncho (q.v.) + bust, in its slang sense of annihilate, or overcome, + er.] These men make a profession of their business and perform really marvellous feats, riding with ease the most vicious and unbroken beasts that no ordinary rider would dare tackle. A favourite feat is to sit out the antics of a bucking-horse with silver half-dollars under each knee or in the stirrups under each foot. Their method of breaking-in may be described as the exercise of main force, it being a tussle as to which can hold out the longest, man or broncho. The calling is a dangerous one, and a first-class broncho-buster can always command high wages and constant employment on large ranches. Bronze John, subs. (American).—Texas name for yellow fever; Englishmen commonly call it yellow Jack (q.v.) Broom, subs. (old).—1. See quot. 1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xxviii. ‘The people got rusty about it, and would not deal, and they had bought so many brooms that——’ Ibid, ch. xxxiii. (II., p. 96). What are you wanting here? Ye’ll be come wi’ a broom in your pocket frae Ellengowan? Got so many warrants out. 2. (harlotry.)—The female pudenda. The male penis is the broomstick. For synonyms, see Monosyllable. Verb (old).—To run away. For synonyms, see Amputate. 1821. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, p. 6. Tom. That will do—now then Dicky, mizzle!—be scarce!—broom! Prime. Wouldn’t intrude a moment, gentlemen, good morning—order my carriage. Broomstick, subs. (athletic).—A sort of rough cricket bat, very narrow in the blade and all of one piece of wood. To jump the broomstick—hop the broom—jump the besom, phr. (common).—To live as man and wife without the legal tie. The allusion is to a quasi marriage ceremony performed by both parties jumping over a broomstick. 1811. Poole, Hamlet Travestied, ii., 3. Jump o’er a broomstick, but don’t make a farce on The marriage ceremonies of the parson. 1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor I., p. 336. The old woman (who kept the ken), when any female, old or young, who had no tin, came into the kitchen, made up a match for her with some men. Fellows half-drunk had the old women. There was always a broomstick wedding. Without that ceremony a couple weren’t looked on as man and wife. 1860. Dickens, Great Expectations, ch. xlviii., p. 227. ‘They both led tramping lives, and this woman in Gerrard St. here, had been married very young, over the broomstick (as we say), to a tramping man, and was a perfect fury in point of jealousy.’ c. 18(79). Broadside Ballad, ‘David Dove that fell in love.’ By L. M. Thornton. The girl that I had hoped to hear Pronounce my happy doom, sir, Had bolted with a carpenter, In fact hopped o’er the broom, sir. Broomsticks, subs. (old).—Worthless bail. For synonyms, see Straw bail and Cf., Bail. 1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dictionary. Queer bail are persons of no repute, hired to bail a prisoner in any bailable case. These men are to be had in London for a trifling sum, and are called broomsticks. Brosier or Brozier, subs. (Eton College).—A boy when he had spent all his pocket-money. [Brozier is a Cheshire term for a bankrupt.] A French term for a bankrupt is un déculotté, i.e., one unbreeched; also un bauce or bausse fondu. Broziered, ppl. adj.—Cleaned out; done up; ruined; bankrupt. 1796. Merton, Way to get Married (in Inchbald’s ‘British Theatre,’ vol. XXVI). [The term is so used here]. Brozier-my-dame, verbal phr. (Eton College).—Eating one out of house and home. At Eton, when a dame (q.v.) keeps an unusually bad table, the boys agree together on a day to eat, pocket, or waste everything eatable in the house. The censure is well understood, and the hint is generally effective. 1850. Notes and Queries, June 15, p. 44. I well remember the phrase brozier-my-dame, signifying to eat her out of house and home. 1888. Rev. W. Rogers, Reminiscences, p. 15. Etonians of my standing will remember John Francis Plumptre, one of the Fellows ... I once behaved very shabbily to him, for I joined a conspiracy to ‘brozier’ him. There were ten or twelve of us [at breakfast], and we devoured everything within reach. Brother-Blade, subs. (old).—A soldier. Formerly brother of the blade, i.e., of the sword; a fellow-soldier. For synonyms, see Mudcrusher. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Brother of the blade, a soldier. 1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. IV., ch. ii. ‘I heard some devilish good stories of you at D’Osyndar’s t’other day; the fellow who told them to me little thought I was a brother blade.’ Brother Chip (provincial workmen’s).—One of the same calling or trade; formerly a fellow carpenter. 1820. Clare, Poems of Rural Life, Familiar Epistle, st. 3. And, brother chip, I love ye dearly, poor as ye be! Brother of the Brush, subs. phr. (old).—An artist; a house-painter. 1687. Bp. Cartwright, in Hist. Magd. Coll. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.), 143. Pray make use of my brother of the brush. [M.] 1759. Sterne, Tr. Shandy (1793), I., 133. The honourable devices which the Pentagraphic bretheren of the brush have shewn in taking copies. [M.] 1833. Byron, wks. (1846), p. 585, col. 1. A young American brother of the brush. [M.] Brother of the Bung, subs. phr. (old).—A brewer; one of the same trade. [Bung here is used as an emblem of the trade of a brewer.] Brother of the Buskin, subs. phr. (old).—A player; actor—one of the same profession. [Buskin is in allusion to the covering for the foot and leg (cothurnus) worn by actors in tragedy among the ancients; in contrast to the sock (soccus) worn by comedians. Stage buskins had very thick soles to give an appearance of height. Hence buskin as symbolical of tragedy, but used in the phrase brother of the buskin in a transferred and general sense.] Quoted by Grose [1785]. Cf., Barn-stormer and Booth-burster. Brother of the Coif, subs. (old).—A serjeant-at-law. [The coif was a close-fitting cap worn by the serjeants-at-law—hence the term.] Quoted by Grose [1785]. Brother of the Gusset, subs. (old).—A pimp or ponce (q.v.). For synonyms, see Bully. Brother of the Quill, subs. phr. (old).—An author. [Quill = pen.] For synonyms, see Ink-slinger. 1754. B. Martin, Eng. Dict. (2 ed.). Brother of the quill, an author, one of the same profession. Brother of the String, subs. phr. (old).—A fiddler. [A reference to the violin or fiddle as a stringed instrument.] Brother of the Whip, subs. phr. (old).—A coachman, the whip being taken, as it were, as an insignia of office. 1756. The World, No. 207. He ... had always greased my heels himself, and upon every one of my birthdays, had treated all his brother whips at his own expence. 1849. T. Miller, in Gabarni in London, p. 39. He is very kind to any poor brother of the whip whom he sees tugging up-hill in vain, with a weighty load and an ill-fed team. Brother-Smut, subs. phr. (popular).—A term of familiarity. ‘Ditto, brother or sister smut,’ tu quoque. Brother Starlings, subs. (old).—Men who cohabit with the same mistress. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Brother Starling ... one who ... builds in the same nest. Broth of a Boy, subs. phr. (Irish originally, but now common).—A jolly good fellow. Cf., Brick. [The term is thought to originate from the Irish Broth, passion—Brotha, passionate, spirited—its meaning being, ‘He’s a lad of spirit,’ though it may come from the ancient Cornish name for the mastiff—brath. Hence a broth of a boy would then mean ‘a stout dog of a boy—robust.’] 1819–24. Byron, Don Juan, c. viii., st. 24. But Juan was quite a broth of a boy, a thing of impulse and a child of song. 1877. Besant and Rice, Son of Vulcan, ch. xx. You ought to have been a preacher and a boy. Faith, and a broth of a boy, and a broth of a preacher you’d have made. Broughtonian, subs. (old).—A bruiser; boxer; pugilist. [From Broughton, once the best boxer of his day.] Brown, subs. (common).—1. A halfpenny. [Probably an allusion to the colour of the coin in question.] For synonyms of money generally, see Actual. 1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dict. Browns and whistlers, bad halfpence and farthings. 1821. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act ii., Sc. 3. Bob. Now then for the stumpy. (Searching about in his pockets for the money.) My tanners are like young colts; I’m obliged to hunt ’em into a corner, afore I can get hold on ’em—there!—hand us over three browns out of that ’ere tizzy; and tip us the heavy. (Landlord receives money, and delivers porter.) 1837. Barham, I. L. (Black Mousquetaire). The magic effect of a hand of crowns Upon people whose pockets boast nothing but browns. 1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, III., p. 57. If I takes a hat round, they has a plate, and they gets sovereigns where we has only browns. Ibid. We keeps it up for half an hour or an hour ... if the browns tumble in well. 1853. Whyte Melville, Digby Grand, ch. iv. A shower of browns, the coppers mingled with silver, from our private box, rewards their exertions. c. 1884. Broadside Ballad, ‘Jimmy Johnson’s Holiday.’ But Violet, the Margate pet, Who always call’d him Teaser, Said ‘She would stick like mortar’d brick, While Johnson had a brown.’ 2. (old.)—Porter. [Qy. an abbreviation of ‘Brown Stout.’] 1820. Glossary at end of Corcoran’s The Fancy. Brown, porter; heavy brown, stout. Verb.—1. A variant of ‘to do brown,’ i.e., to do to perfection; to get the better of. [The simile is obviously taken from the browning process which meat undergoes during roasting.]—See Do brown. 2. To understand; comprehend. To do brown, verbal phr. (common).—To do well; also ‘to take in’; deceive; to exceed bounds. Cf., Brown, verb, sense 1. French equivalents for ‘to allow oneself to be done brown’ are godancer and être flouè.—See second quotation for variation in usage. a. 1600. John Bon, 162 in Hazl. E. P. P., iv., 16. Ha! browne done. [M.] 1828. Jon. Bee, Picture of London, p. 5. ‘Those who consider themselves brown to every move upon the board’ of actual life. 1837. Barham, I. L. (The Execution). ‘Why, they’d laugh at and quiz us all over the town, We are all of us done so uncommonly brown!’ 1854. Harper’s Monthly, January. ‘And some of the greenhorns Resolved upon flight, And vamosed the ranch In a desperate plight; While those who succeeded In reaching the town, Confessed they were done, Most exceedingly brown.’ 1861. Times (on American affairs). John Bull, slyly winkin’, then said unto he: ‘My dear Times, my old covey, go pitch into he; Let us wallop great Doodle now when he is down; If we wallops him well, we will do him up brown.’ 1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 267. I was once done myself with some pigs—I! and done brown too, and at a time when I ought to have known better. Brown Bess, subs. (rhyming slang).—1. Yes. 2. (military.)—The old regulation musket. Considerable discussion has taken place over the origin of this term. It first appears in Grose [1785], but the term ‘brown musquet’ occurs at the beginning of the eighteenth century [1708]. The following suggested derivation appeared in N. and Q. [2 S., v., p. 259]. Brown Bess, in its primary meaning, is equivalent to brown barrel. Bus, in Dutch is the barrel of a gun; in Low Germ. büsse, in Swed. byssa. Hence our English Bess as applied to a gun-barrel. (Conf. in Med. Latin—bus-bas fragor scloporum et certaminis.) The Dutch bus appears often in composition. Hand-bus, a pistol; literally a hand-barrel. Bus-schieter, a gunner; literally a barrel-shooter. We have the Dutch bus (a barrel) in three English names of fire-arms: namely arquebuse, obus, blunderbuss. At the first of these three, arquebuse, we must look a little more closely would we trace the term brown Bess to its primæval source. The most formidable of cross-bows before fire-arms came into general use, was one which shot a ball or pellet from a barrel. Specimens may yet be seen. Now this was the original arquebuse (i.e., arc-bus, or arc-et-bus, bow and barrel). In process of time as gunpowder came into use, the arc disappeared, and the buss or barrel remained. Hence arquebuse, though it properly implies a bow fitted with a tube or barrel, came into use as the old appellation of a soldier’s firelock. And hence the name of Bess (bus, büsse or byssa), which the musket has borne more recently. Bess or bus is the last syllable of the old arquebuse or harquebus cut off for separate use, just as in the more recent instance of bus from omnibus. The barrels of firelocks were sometimes browned. Sometimes, however, they were required to be kept bright. Could we ascertain who first in mercy ordained the browning of the barrel, we might have some prospect of ascertaining the first introduction of the term brown Bess. Doubtless it was some hero of the fight, not of the field-day. For a further illustration of the term brown Bess, it may be proper to remark that in Northumberland, according to Halliwell, a gun is known by the not very elegant title of black-bitch. Now like bus in Dutch, büchse is in German a gun-barrel. (‘Büchse, 2, ein eisernes Rohr zum schiessen,’ an iron tube for shooting.) May we not infer, therefore, that black-bitch was originally ‘black büchse,’ i.e., black barrel, in conformity with brown barrel or brown Bess? ‘Formerly,’ says Zedler, ‘and before the invention of gunpowder, arquebuse signified a bow with a barrel’ (Bogen Büchse), which is the literal meaning of the word. Hotten, however, says it is much more likely that the phrase is derived from the fact that ‘the soldier is wedded to his weapon,’ and some colour is given to this alternative derivation by the fact that the Dutch soldier, mindful of all the care he has to bestow upon his gun, calls it his wife—mijn geweer is mijn vrouw. French soldiers call their weapon la clarinette de cinq pieds. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Brown Bess, a soldier’s firelock. 1820. Coombe, Dr. Syntax, Tour II., ch. ii. Religion Jack did never profess, Till he had shoulder’d old Brown Bess. 1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. xi. The British soldier, with his clothing and accoutrements, ...—not to mention brown Bess, his mainstay and dependence—nothing punishes him so much as wet. 1877. Chambers’ Journal, No. 720. Such may have been the case in the days of brown Bess, but a spinning conical ball from the Martini-Henry will pierce the largest crocodile. 3. (old.)—A prostitute. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack. 1631. Dore, Polydorun. Things proffered and easie to come by diminish themselves in reputation and price, for how full of pangs and dotage is a wayling lover, for it may be some brown Bessie. To hug brown Bess, verbal phr. (old).—To serve as a private soldier. Brown George, subs. (old).—1. Explained by quotations. 1837. Barham, Ingoldsby L., 3 S. ‘Jerry Jarvis’s Wig.’ He looked disdainfully at the wig; it had once been a comely jasey enough, of the colour of over-baked ginger-bread, one of the description commonly known during the latter half of the last century by the name of a brown George. 1882. Globe, 24 July, p. 2, col. 1. The King [George III.] wore a brown wig ... known popularly a century ago as brown George. 2. (common.)—A jug; generally of brown earthenware. Cf., Black-jack. 1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. xxiv. He ... stood behind his oak, holding his brown George, or huge earthenware receptacle, half full of dirty water, in which his bedmaker had been washing up his tea-things. 1881. Besant and Rice, Chap. of the Fleet, pt. II., ch. iii. His country brother might have been seen at the Crown, over a pipe and a brown George full of strong October. 3. (old.)—A coarse brown loaf; or hard biscuit. 1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, bk. IV. Author’s Prologue. The devil of one musty crust of a brown George the poor boys had to scour their grinders with. 1693. Dryden, Persius, V., 215. Cubb’d in a cabin, on a mattrass laid, On a brown George, with lousy swabbers fed. Brownie, subs. (nautical).—The polar bear. Brown Janet, subs. (nautical).—A knapsack. Brown Joe, intj. (rhyming slang).—No. Cf., Brown Bess for ‘yes.’ Brown-Papermen, subs. (thieves’).—Low gamblers.—See quot. 1851. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 502. ‘But the Little Nick is what we call only ‘brown papermen,’ low gamblers—playing for pence, and 1s. being a great go.’ Brown Stone, subs. (American thieves’).—Beer. For synonyms, see Swipes. Brown Talk, subs. (common).—Conversation of an exceedingly ‘proper’ character, Quakerish. Compare blue. Browse, verb (Marlborough and Royal Military Academy).—To idle; loll; take things easy. [A transferred sense of the legitimate word—to eat lazily.] Adj.—See foregoing. ‘A browse morning,’ i.e., one in which there is little work. Bruise, verb (prize-fighters’).—1. To fight; box—generally with the idea of mauling. Bruise along, verbal phr. (hunting).—To pound along. 1865. Dublin University Magazine, II., 19. A majority of those who follow them have ... no notion of hunting, but go bruising along. 1872. Anteros, xii., p. 110. The baron hunted his five days ... bruising along determinedly. Bruiser, subs. (pugilistic).—1. A prize-fighter; a boxer. [From bruise, to maul, + er.] 1744. Nov. 26, Walpole, Lett. to Mann (1833), II., 57. He let into the pit great numbers of bear-garden bruisers (that is the term), to knock down everybody that hissed. 1753. Foote, Englishman in Paris, Act i. Dick Daylight and Bob Bread-basket the bruisers. 1830. S. Warren, Diary of a Late Physician, ch. xii. The man last named was short in stature, but of a square iron build; and it needed only a glance at his posture to see he was a scientific, perhaps a thorough-bred bruiser. 1846–48. Thackeray, V. Fair, ch. xi. At college he pulled stroke-oar in the Christchurch boat, and had thrashed all the best bruisers of the ‘town.’ 1860. Thackeray, Philip, ch. xlii. A jolly wag, a fellow of indifferent character, a frequenter of all the ale-houses in the neighbourhood, and rather celebrated for his skill as a bruiser. 1880. Jas. Greenwood, Flyfaker’s Hotel, in Odd People in Odd Places, p. 58. Nearly every one seemed to have some little job or other that was necessary to be done at this almost last moment for the business of to-morrow; even one of the two villanous-looking bruisers had. They were of the very lowest of the ‘rough’ type—broken-nosed, besotted, pimple-visaged, and unwholesome-looking fellows, whose foul and blasphemous language seemed to pollute the pestilent air of the place more than anything else that contributed thereto. 2. (thieves’.)—A prostitute’s bully or fancy man. For synonyms, see Bully. 3. (common.)—One fond of fighting. Cf., Chucker-out, and next sense. 4. (American.)—A generic name in large cities for a rowdy or bully. Sometimes, however, the term has been limited in its application to a particular band of ruffians. This was the case once in Baltimore. Bruising, verbal subs. (prize-fighters’).—Fighting with the fists; boxing. 1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. c. The combatants were, in point of strength and agility, pretty equally matched; but the jailer had been regularly trained to the art of bruising. 1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. x. At that time the Sunday newspapers contained many and many exciting reports of boxing matches. Bruising was considered a fine manly old English custom. 1860. Thackeray, Philip, ch. xxxv. Mugford always persisted that he could have got the better of his great hulking sub-editor, who did not know the use of his fists. In Mugford’s youthful time, bruising was a fashionable art. Ppl. adj. (hunting).—That pounds along. 1872. Anteros, by the author of Guy Livingstone, I., p. 207. He was a good second-rate shot, and a fair, though by no means bruising rider to hounds. Ibid., p. 234. There were not a few admirers of his bruising style, etc. Brum, subs. (old).—1. A counterfeit coin. [Contracted form of Brummagem (q.v.).] The term appears to have been given specially to some counterfeit groats [about 1691]. 2. (common).—Something counterfeit; not genuine. [A contraction of Brummagem (q.v.).] 1883. Daily Telegraph, July 9, p. 3, col. 2. One [earring] might be gold, and the other a Brum, though exactly alike. 3. (common).—Copper money struck by Boulton and Watt at their works at Soho, Birmingham. 1787. J. West, Trip to Richmond, in Ashton’s Eighteenth Century Waifs, p. 133. My silver I chang’d for a handful of Brums. 4. (common).—An inhabitant of Birmingham. 1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 321. For Nottingham is a rare place for good eating; here you may buy anything to eat of the commonest person, or in the commonest place with confidence that it is good, clean, and wholesome, very different to dirty Birmingham and the Brums. Adj. (Winchester College).—Mean; poor; stingy. A superlative form is dead brum. [There are two derivations suggested; viz. (1) from bruma = winter; and (2) traditional in ‘College’ that it is an abbreviated form of brevissimum.] A popular French equivalent, used both as a substantive and adjective, is rapiat. Brumby, subs. (Australian).—A wild horse. An Antipodean counterpart of the American ‘broncho.’ Brummagem, subs. (popular).—1. A nickname for Birmingham. 1862. Cornhill, Nov., p. 648. We have just touched for a rattling stake of sugar (i.e., a large stake of money) at Brum. 2. (old).—Base money of various denominations has been so called—especially groats in 17th century—hence its application to anything spurious or unreal—as in adjectival sense.—See also Brummagem buttons and Brums. 1691. G. Miege, New State Eng., 235. Bromicham, particularly noted a few years ago for the counterfeit groats made here, and from hence dispersed all over the kingdom. [M.] 1754. B. Martin, Eng. Dict., 2 ed. Bromidgham, money of base metal. 1834. Southey, The Doctor, ch. cxl. He picked it up, and it proved to be a Brummejam of the coarsest and clumsiest kind, with a head on each side. Adj.—Counterfeit; unreal; sham; showy; pretentious.—See substantive, senses 1 and 2. 1637. Calendar Dom. St. Papers, 105. Those swords which he ... pretends to be blades of his owne makeing are all Bromedgham blades and forraine blades. 1686. D’Urfey, Commonwealth of Women, I., i. A Brummingham, son of a wh—, affront the Noble Admiral! 1866. G. Eliot, Felix Holt, ch. v. ‘The most of the middle class are as ignorant as the working people about everything that doesn’t belong to their own Brummagem life.’ 1883. Echo, March 28, p. 1, col. 5. There is little of a Brummagem character about the municipal, parochial, and philanthropic work of Birmingham, whatever we may think of some of her industrial productions. Brummagem Buttons, subs. (common).—Counterfeit coin. 1836. Dickens, Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, I., p. 11. Bad silver, Brummagem buttons, etc. 1873. Saturday Review, Nov., p. 661. They [Brummagem buttons] were marvellously inexpensive, and being such ingenious imitations of the spade guineas and half-guineas then current that many Englishmen might have failed to detect the difference; they must have been of very great ‘use to the Indians’ indeed. Brummish, adj. (common).—Doubtful; counterfeit. [From Brum (q.v.) + ish.] 1805. G. Colman, John Bull Brit. Theat., 55. Two guineas ... one seems light and t’other looks a little brummish. [M.] Brums, subs. (Stock Exchange).—London and North Western Stock. (Formerly London and Birmingham Ry.). 1887. Atkin, House Scraps. We kneel at the feet of our ‘Nancys,’ We load them with ‘cottons’ and ‘tapes.’ If anything tickles our fancy, We buy them Brums, ‘Caleys’ or ‘Apes.’ Brush.—1. See Brother of the brush. 2. subs. (old).—A hasty departure. For analogous terms, see Amputate. 1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. VIII., ch. xii. ‘I reminded him, not without blushing, of my having no money. He answered, “That signifies nothing, score it behind the door, or make a bold brush, and take no notice.”’ 3. (old.)—A person who decamps hastily, or who evades his creditors. 1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Brush (v.) ... also a canting term for one who goes off privately, or runs away from his creditors, or with stolen goods. Verb (Christ’s Hospital).—1. To flog. 2. (old.)—To have sexual intercourse. For synonyms, see Ride. 3. (old.)—To run away; to decamp. Also to brush off. For synonyms, see Amputate. 1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Brush, to Fly or Run away. [M.] 1706. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Brush, c., run away. 1764. A. Murphy, No One’s Enemy but his Own, Act ii. Rascal, says my Master, do as I bid you, and so off he brushed to the tune of an old song. 1776. Foote, Bankrupt, I. But I must brush off, for here comes my lady. 1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (1877), 204. And one Sergeant Matcham had brush’d with the dibs. 1837. Barham, I. L. (Dead Drummer). One of their drummers, and one Sergeant Matcham, Had brush’d with the dibs, and they never could catch’em. Brusher, subs. (old).—A full glass. 2. (old.)—See quotation. 1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Brusher (s.) ... also one that gets or steals away privately. 3. (common and schools’.)—A schoolmaster. 4. (American.)—To humbug by flattery. Brushing up a flat, phr. (general).—Using mealy-mouthed words, or, to employ other slang equivalents, ‘laying it on thick,’ ‘soft soaping one.’ Brute, subs. (University).—See quot. 1868. Brewer, Phrase and Fable, s.v. Brute, in Cambridge University slang, is a man who has not yet matriculated. The play is evident. A ‘man,’ in college phrase, is a collegian; and as matriculation is the sign and seal of acceptance, a scholar before that ceremony is not a ‘man,’ and therefore only a ‘biped brute.’ Brydport Dagger.—See Bridport dagger. B. T. I., phr. (American).—An abbreviation of a big thing on ice. These curtailments of slang phrases are not infrequent in America, and among others may be mentioned p.d.q.; o.k.; n.g. and q.k., etc. (q.v.). Bub, subs. (old).—1. Strong drink of any kind, but usually applied to malt liquor. [It is suggested that this term is onomatopoetic, an imitation of the sound of drinking; others, however, incline to regard the word as a derivative of the Latin bib-ĕre, to drink. Sometimes spelt bubb.] A common expression for eating and drinking is ‘to take bub and grub,’ a French equivalent for which is se caresser l’Angoulême. 1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. iv., p. 36 (1874). In a short time these four return’d laden with bub and food. 1748. Dodsley, Collection of Poems, III., 262. Tho’ beef twice boil’d his meal, with P—n’s bub, And sixpence chang’d defrays the frugal club. 1839. H. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard, ep. II., ch. xi. ‘Och! many a mug o’ bubb have I drained wi’ the landlord.’ 2. (common.)—A woman’s breast; generally used in the plural—bubbies (q.v.). 3. (old.)—A brother. 4. (American.)—Also bubby. A term of affection applied to a little boy. [Said to have originated in Pennsylvania from the German Bube.] Likewise used figuratively as a familiar mode of address. 1872. S. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Roughing It. The cayote turns smiles blandly upon him once more, and with a something about it which seems to say: ‘Well, I shall have to tear myself away from you, bub—business is business, and it will not do for me to be fooling along this way all day.’ 1888. San Francisco Weekly Examiner. When she was ready to go home, she did so without carriage or baby. Shortly after bubby kicked up high jinks, and the joker clerk was sent for to take him away. 5. (old.)—An abbreviated form of bubble, subs. 1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Bub or bubble, one that is cheated. [M.] Verb (old).—1. To drink.—See substantive. 1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. vi., p. 54 (1874). We straight betook ourselves to the Boozing Ken; and having bubb’d rumly, we concluded an everlasting friendship. 2. (old.)—To bribe; to cheat. Cf., Bubble. 1719. D’Urfey, Pills, II., 54. Another makes Racing a Trade.... And many a Crimp Match has made, By bubbing another Man’s Groom. Bubber, subs. (old).—1. A hard drinker; a confirmed tippler. [From bub (q.v.) = drink + er.] A synonymous French term is un bibassier, but for analogous terms generally, see Elbow crooker. 1653. Middleton, Sp. Gipsy, ii., 1. Though I am no mark in respect of a huge butt, yet I can tell you great bubbers have shot at me. [There is a play in the word ‘butt.’] 1674. R. Head, Canting Acad., 191. A bubber ... goes to the Alehouse, and steals there the Plate. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bubber, ... a great drinker. A thief that steals plate from publick houses. 2. (old.)—A drinking bowl. Cf., derivation of previous sense. 1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Bubber, a drinking Bowl; also a great Drinker, and he that used to steal Plate from Publick-houses. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bubber, a drinking bowl, etc. 3. (old.)—A public house thief.—See quotation 1690, sense 2; also mentioned by Grose [1785]. 4. (American.)—A nickname for an old woman with large pendulous breasts. Rarely heard. 1848. Bartlett, Americanisms. Bubber. A stout or stoutly mammalated old woman. Used in Salem, Mass., in 1820, and since. ‘Bubber Jones.’ (Fr. poitron, old woman; Old Fr. pect. poitron; Lat. pectus, the breast.) Bubbies, subs. (common).—A woman’s breasts. An old term of which the derivation is somewhat doubtful, though it may be noted that the ancient cant has bub in the sense of ‘to drink,’ and also as an abbreviated form of bubby. Arber says that ‘bu bu’ is the cry of a child needing its mother’s milk.—For synonyms, see Dairies. 1686. D’Urfey, New Poems (1690), 206. The Ladies here may without Scandal shew, Face or white bubbies, to each ogling Beau. 1693. Congreve, Old Batchelor, Act v., Sc. 7. Did not her eyes twinkle, and her mouth water? Did not she pull up her little bubbies? 1712. Arbuthnot, Hist. of John Bull, pt. III., ch. viii. ‘To see a handsome, brisk, genteel, young fellow so much governed by a doating old woman! Why don’t you go and suck the bubby?’ 1715. Vanbrugh, Country House, II., v. He talked to me of you, and said you had the charmingest bubbies. 1748. Dodsley, Collection of Poems, III., 191. And snowy bubbies pull’d above the stays. 1754. B. Martin, Eng. Dict., 2 ed. Bubbys, a woman’s breasts. Bubbing, subs. (old).—Drinking; tippling. 1678. Poor Robin’s Char. of Scold, 6. She clamours at him so long ... which makes him seek Bubbing-schools to hide himself in from her fury. [M.] Bubble, subs. (old).—A dupe; gull; also caravan (q.v.); and rook (q.v.). Grose thinks from the party cheated being like an air-bubble filled with words which are only wind instead of real property. Also apparently used of anything not genuine. Applied to persons, it is older than appears from Murray. 1598. Shakspeare, All’s Well, iii., vi., 5. Sec. Lord. On my life, my lord, a bubble. Ber. Do you think I am so far deceived in him? 1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia, III., in wks. (1720) IV., 62. This kinsman a most silly bubble first, and afterwards a betrayer of young heirs. 1697. Vanbrugh, Provoked Wife, V., iii. If her conduct has put a trick upon her virtue, her virtue’s the bubble, but her husband’s the loser. 1711. Swift, Conduct of the Allies. We are thus become the dupes and bubbles of Europe. 1712. Arbuthnot, History of John Bull, pt. II., ch. iii. He has been my bubble [tool] these twenty years; and to my certain knowledge, understands no more of his own affairs than a child in swaddling clothes. 1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. I., ch. vii. ‘This would be to own herself the meer tool and bubble of the man.’ 1788. G. A. Stevens, Adv. of a Speculist, I., 69. He persuades his bubble, that he will insure him a certain safe way of getting a sum of money. 1795. R. Cumberland, The Jew, Act iii., Sc. 2. If he attempts to raise money upon expectancies, be at their peril who are fools enough to trust him: No prudent man will be his bubble. 1805. G. Barrington, New London Spy (4 ed.), p. 24. The shame of being thought a bubble, and exposed to the town, frequently prevents gentlemen from making use of the statute provided in such cases. Verb (old).—To cheat; humbug; delude as with bubbles; to overreach. Cf., substantive sense. 1664. Etheridge, Comical Revenge, II., iii., in wks. (1704), 24. I believe he’s gone down to Receive money; ’twere an excellent design to bubble him. 1685. Dryden, Prol. to Albion and Albanius, 23. Freedom and zeal have choused you o’er and o’er; Pray give us leave to bubble you once more. 1711. Spectator, No 89. That she has bubbled him out of his youth ... and that he verily believes she will drop him in his old age, if she can find her account in another. 1752. Fielding, Amelia, bk. XI., ch. iv. He ... actually bubbled several of their money by undertaking to do them services, which, in reality, were not within his power. 1777. Sheridan, Trip to Scarborough, Act ii. Help the gentleman with a chair, and carry him to my house presently—that’s the properest place—[aside]—to bubble him out of his money. 1788. G. A. Stevens, Adv. of a Speculist, I., 75. And this was the language which the pretenders to the Philosopher’s Stone used to bubble their pigeons with. 1880. McCarthy, Own Times, III., xli., 235. Some critics declared ... that the French Emperor had bubbled him [Mr. Cobden]. Bubbleable, adj. (old).—That can be duped; gullible. [A very rare form from bubble, to cheat, + able.] 1669. Nicker Nicked, in Hart. Misc. (ed. Park), II., 109. If the winner be bubbleable, they will insinuate themselves into his acquaintance, and civilly invite him to drink a glass of wine; wheedle him into play, and win all his money. Bubble and Squeak, subs. phr. (common).—A compound of cold meat fried up with potatoes and greens. [From the hissing sound produced by the frying; originally nautical.] 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bubble and squeak, beef and cabbage fried together; it is so called from its bubbling up and squeaking whilst over the fire. 1786–89. Wolcot (‘P. Pindar’), Lousiad, ch. i., line 366. Such is the sound (the simile’s not weak) Form’d by what mortals bubble call, and squeak, When ’midst the frying-pan, in accents savage, The beef so sorely quarrels with the cabbage. 1853. Lytton, My Novel, bk. VIII., ch. viii. ‘Rank and title! bubble and squeak! No, not half so good as bubble and squeak. English beef and good cabbage.’ Bubble Buff, subs. (old).—A bailiff. Bubble Company, subs. (common).—A swindling association, enterprise or project. [From bubble, to cheat, + company.] The South Sea Bubble will occur to mind in this connection. 1754. B. Martin, Eng. Dict. (2 ed.). Bubble ... 5 (in Commerce), a cant name given to certain projects for raising money on imaginary grounds. 1880. Hawley Smart, Social Sinners, ch. xix. ‘My inheritance disappears as if it had been invested in a bubble company.’ Bubbled, ppl. adj. (old).—Gulled; deceived; befooled. [From bubble, to cheat, + ed.] a. 1683. Oldham, Wks. and Rem. (1686), 66. Bubled Monarchs are at first beguil’d ... at last depos’d, and kill’d. [M.] 1701. Defoe, True Born Englishman, Introd. Who shall this bubbled nation disabuse, While they, their own felicities refuse? 1889. Gentleman’s Mag., June, p. 598. Towards the end of the century [xvii] a person easily gulled, or bubbled was known as a ‘caravan,’ but earlier the term ‘rook,’ which is now restricted to a cheat or sharper, appears to have been applied to the person cheated. Bubbling Squeak, subs. (army).—Hot soup. Bubbly Jock, subs. (old Scotch).—1. A turkey-cock; a ‘gobbler.’ [Probably in allusion to the cry of the bird.] 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bubbly jock, a turkey-cock. 1843. Thackeray, Irish Sketch Book, ch. xv. He took but one glass of water to that intolerable deal of bubbly jock.... Three turkey-wings and a glass of water. 1877. Besant and Rice, Son of Vulcan, pt. II., ch. xviii. Puffing his cheeks like some infuriated bubbly jock in a stable-yard. 2. (common.)—A stupid boaster. 3. (popular.)—A pert, conceited, pragmatical fellow; a prig; a cad. 1883. G. A. Sala, Living London, p. 113. Mr. Benjamin Bunny (Mr. J. L. Toole) is the good-natured husband of a pretty young wife (Miss Winifred Emery). Mr. Bunny is, to use a Scotticism, ‘sair owerhanded,’ not by a ‘bubbly jock,’ but by his wife’s aunt. Bubby.—See Bub and Bubbies. Bucco, subs. (American thieves’).—A dandy. [A corruption of buck (q.v.).] Buck, subs. (common).—1. In the first instance a man of spirit or gaiety of conduct; later a fop, a dandy. [A transferred sense of buck, the male of the fallow deer.] In the form ‘old buck’ it is merely a familiar mode of address. The epithet, as applied to a man about town, is somewhat obsolete; masher, dude, and swell having taken its place. Cf., Blood. 1725. New Cant. Dict. Buck, as a bold buck, is sometimes used to signify a forward daring Person of either Sex. 1752. Fielding, Amelia, bk. X., ch. ii. A large assembly of young fellows, whom they call bucks. 1846–48. Thackeray, V. Fair, ch. vi. She had sate by him on the box of his open carriage (a most tremendous buck he was, as he sat there, serene, in state, driving his greys). 1889. Answers, Feb. 9. The ancient buck was last seen (at the age of eighty-four) wearing a wig, a pair of stays, ‘plumpers,’ rouge, and padding, and he daily anointed his face with a compound called ‘skin-tightener.’ ‘Skin-tightener’ removes wrinkles, and after the face has been washed with ‘bloom of roses,’ the wearer can strut forth with the consciousness that all the world takes him for a quarter of a century younger than he is. 2. (common.)—An unlicensed cabdriver. Apparently also applied to a sham fare.—See last quotation. 1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. III., p. 362. The long-day men are the parties who mostly employ the bucks ... they are glad to avail themselves of the services of a buck for some hours at the end of the day. Ibid. The bucks are unlicensed cabdrivers, who are employed by those who have a license to take charge of the cab while the regular drivers are at their meals or enjoying themselves. 1865. Morning Star, 14 Sept. What is the prisoner? Constable: He is a buck, who hangs about an omnibus stand. [M.] 1887. Daily News, 5 October, 5, 4. At Bow Street something was further heard of the buck. This person ... is the sham fare whom a cabby drives past the police in order to get up to the theatre doors out of his proper turn, and so increase his chance of securing a legitimate fare. 3. (old.)—A sixpence. [Thought to be a corruption of fyebuck (q.v.).] The word is rarely used by itself, but generally denotes the sixpence attached to shillings in reference to cost, as, ‘three and a buck,’ three shillings and sixpence. For synonyms, see Bender. 1885. Household Words, June 20, p. 155. ‘Buck’ is most likely a corruption of ‘fyebuck,’ a slang name for sixpence, which is now almost, if not altogether, obsolete. 4. (schoolboys’.)—A large marble. Cf., Alley, Bonce, Mivey. 1885. Household Words, June 20, p. 155. Readers whose school-days are still green in their memories will also recognise in buck the name for the large marble once dear to their boyish hearts. 5. (American.)—A term used in poker (q.v.). Cf., Tiger. Adj. (American University).—At Princeton College anything which is of an intensive degree, good, excellent, pleasant or agreeable, is called buck. Verb (American).—1. To oppose; to run counter to. [Possibly a corruption of butt, or from buck as applied to a horse.—See sense 2.] 2. (Western American.)—As applied to horses this term is used to describe the action of plunging forward and throwing the head to the ground in an effort to unseat the rider—a motion of which probably no domesticated beast is capable, aside from the Texan miserable and treacherous species of horse. A raw hand thus relates his experience:—‘When I was told how hard he could buck, I only laughed, my impression being that no pony standing on four legs could throw me off. I mounted my new horse, and waving my bran new hat about my head, galloped away in a dignified style. Suddenly the horse stopped. His ears went back, and his hind legs went between his front. The motion was a curious one. But I did not fall. Realizing that the man on his back could ride a little bit, the pony got right down to business. My stomach seemed to fly up into my mouth, and millions of stars floated about my head. I am not prepared to state what kind of hold the pony got on me, but I went sprawling on the ground, my nose making an irrigating ditch. It was all done not more than one hundred yards from where my girl was standing. I stuck on well, however, as the saddle, blanket, gun and bridle came off with me. The wild yell that greeted my exploit nearly drove me mad. While I spit the dirt and curses out of my mouth, I thought that if I had that pony back I’d break him in or break my head. It ran out on the prairie and joined the Government herd. When an old-timer tried to fix things for me in front of my girl by saying, “It’s no disgrace, pardnr, that horse can buck off a porus plaster,” I thanked him from the bottom of my heart.’ 3. (commercial.)—A variant of to cook (q.v.), as applied to accounts. 4. (Western American.)—To play against the bank, usually ‘to buck the tiger.’—See following. 1879. Bret Harte, Gabriel Conroy, p. 375. I don’t like your looks at all. I’d buck against any bank you ran, all night. 1880. Bret Harte, Brown of Calaveras. (Tales of the Arg., p. 81). Why don’t you say you want to buck agin’ faro? 1888. Hotel Mail. A man may hunt the wildest game Along the Nile or the Niger, In woods or ranch; But he will find the sport most tame Compared with bucking the tiger At dear Long Branch. 5. (Western American.)—To put forth one’s whole energy. [An extension of meaning from sense 4.] 1870. San Antonio Paper. ‘You’ll have to buck at it like a whole team, gentlemen, or you won’t hear the whistle near your diggings for many a year.’ To run a buck, verbal phr. (old Irish).—To poll a bad vote at an election.—Grose. Buck or fight the tiger, verbal phr. (American).—To gamble. [There are two derivations suggested:—(1) that the phrase is derived from the parti-coloured division or stripes on a gambling table; (2) that it is of Chinese origin. A favourite figure of one of the Chinese gods of gambling is a tiger standing on his hind-feet, and grasping a large cash in his mouth or his paws. Sometimes the image is made of wood or clay, or drawn on a piece of paper or board. The title of the beast, His Excellency the Grasping Cash Tiger, is frequently written on a piece of paper, and placed in the gambling rooms between two bunches of mock-money suspended under the table or on the wall behind it. This figure is the sign for a gambling house: ‘The Fighting Tiger.’] 1888. Daily Inter-Ocean, Feb. 14. Last night and to-day they have succeeded in placing under arrest six of the gaming-house keepers of the city and subpœnaed thirty citizens as witnesses, among whom are said to be prominent city officials and business men. The affair has caused a good deal of talk already, and if reports are anywhere near true, it will create a great sensation when the cases are called, and more than one unsuspecting wife will have her eyes opened to the fact that the wicked tiger, and not legitimate business has been detaining her husband out so late at night. Buck Bait, subs. (thieves’).—Bail given by a confederate. Cf., Bait. Buck Down, verbal phr. (Winchester College).—To be sorry; unhappy. Cf., Buck up and Bucksome. Bucked. To be bucked, verb (Uppingham).—To be tired. Cf., Buck up. Buckeen, subs. (Irish).—A bully.—Grose. Properly a young man of the poorer aristocracy. Bucket, subs. (American).—An anonymous letter. Verb (general).—1. To ride hard; not to spare one’s beast. 1856. Whyte Melville, Kate Coventry, ch. xi. ‘I had rather give Brilliant a good bucketing’ [Aunt Horsingham shuddered—I knew she would, and used the word on purpose] ‘over an even heath or a line of grass, than go bodkin in a chariot.’ 1864. Yates, Broken to Harness, II., p. 218. There’s room in the Row to give him [the horse] a very good bucketing. 1868. Tottenham, C. Villars, I., 243. Bucketing his wretched horse home to Cambridge. [M.] 1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 342. ‘Ten thousand pardons, Dollie, dearest; but I only got your message an hour or so ago, and am so busy I couldn’t get here before. As it is I have had to bucket my hack unmercifully.’ 2. (old.)—To cheat; ruin; deceive. 1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dict., s.v. To bucket a person is synonymous with putting him in the well. 1828. Scott, Diary, in Lockhart (1839), ix., 253. Thurtell ... must in slang phrase have bucketed his palls. 3. (rowing.)—To take the water unfairly—with a scoop at the beginning of the stroke instead of a steady even pull throughout. 1876. Besant and Rice, Golden Butterfly, ch. xv., p. 130. He was not so straight in the back as an Oxford stroke; and he bucketed about a good deal, but he got along. To give the bucket, phr. (old).—To dismiss from one’s employment; to ‘send a person about his business.’—Cf., Bag and Sack. 1860. Mrs. Gaskell, Sylvia’s Lovers, ch. xxi. He were sore put about because Hester had gi’en him the bucket. To kick the bucket, phr. (general).—To die. [The bucket here is thought to refer to a Norfolk term for a pulley.] When pigs are killed they are hung by their hind legs on a bucket.—For synonyms, see Aloft. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bucket; to kick the bucket; to die. 1796. Wolcot (‘P. Pindar’), Tristia, wks. (1812) V., 242. Pitt has kicked the bucket. 1840. Marryat, Poor Jack, xxx. He drained it dry ... and kicked the bucket. 1849. Kingsley, Alton Locke, ch. ii. ‘Fine him a pot’ roared one, ‘for talking about kicking the bucket. He’s a nice young man to keep a cove’s spirits up, and talk about a short life and a merry one.’ 1876(?). Broadside Ballad, ‘Ten Little Niggers.’ Eight little niggers never heard of heav’n, One kicked the bucket, and then there were seven. 1889. Answers, July 27, p. 141, col. 3. The high-school girl explained to her particular friend yesterday that He kicked the bucket was slang, and that the polite expression was, ‘He propelled his pedal extremities with violence against a familiar utensil used for the transportation of water and other fluids.’ Bucket Afloat, subs. (rhyming slang).—A coat. Bucket Shop, subs. (American).—1. Primarily a petty stock gambling den carried on in opposition to regular exchange business, and usually of a very doubtful character. The New York World recently investigated the whole question, and gave some very interesting details as to the many tortuous ways of these crooked corners of the money world. The conclusion arrived at was that Wall Street and its vicinity did not contain a single ‘square and honest’ bucket-shop; all their dealings were nothing but ‘a brace gambling game.’ By their schemes the customer had ‘not the ghost of a chance to win.’ Their quotations were obtained surreptitiously, and, in handling them, the bucket-shop keepers in several ways take unfair advantage of their clients. The term bucket shop has become common in England, but, fortunately for the community at large, no comparison can be drawn between the establishments known by that name in England, and those which flourish in America under the same title, though in very truth the proceedings of some of the former are scandalous enough. [Possibly from bucket (q.v.), to cheat, + shop. As an alternative derivation, the ‘bucket’ into which the tape falls may be suggested.] 1887. Daily News, 14 April, 7, 1. Mr. Charles Fisher said that he carried on business as an agent.... He did Stock Exchange business, for clients. Mr. Besley: Commonly called a bucket shop, I think. 1888. Missouri Republican, Feb. 12. New York, Feb. 11.—(Special).—Inspector Brynes was seized with another spasm of indignation against the bucket-shops this morning, and, accompanied by detectives and a squad of officers, he swooped down upon the lairs of these enemies of the Stock Exchange that abound on Lower Broadway and New Street. 1889. Pall Mall Gazette, 12 Nov., p. 3, col. 1. ‘The tape is credited with fostering gambling.’ ‘Well, we know that there are bucket-shops, but we have for some time refused to entertain any proposal for a machine if there is the least prospect of its being used for bucket-shop purposes. There is gambling, of course, but it is unfair to say that the tape is responsible for it. The tape was not originated for that purpose, but in order to inform the public, through the newspapers or otherwise, how securities were going, and it does that. In practice it serves as a check between client and broker, and broker and jobber.’ 2. Also applied generally to low groggeries; lottery offices; gambling dens, etc. Buck Face, subs. (old).—A cuckold; one who in French slang is said to be un loger rue du Croissant. Buck Fitch, subs. (old).—An old roué; a lecherous old man. Buckhara, subs. (American).—A name given in California to a cattle-driver or cowboy. Buckhorse, subs. (pugilistic).—A smart blow or box on the ear. [Derived from the name of a celebrated ‘bruiser’ of that name. Buckhorse was a man who either possessed or professed insensibility to pain, and who would for a small sum allow anyone to strike him with the utmost force on the side of the face. His real name was John Smith, and he fought in public 1732–46.] French Synonyms. (For the blow itself.) Une boffete (from the old word buffet); une bouffe; une châtaigne; une accolade; une pamure. To receive a buckhorse, encaisser un soufflet; to give a buckhorse; donner la savate. 1864. Blackwood’s Mag., II., p. 463 (the Public Schools’ Report, 1864—Westminster School). One of the Seniors informs us that the common punishment was buckhorsing. ‘That was boxing the ears, was it?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Buckhorsing was rather severe, was it not?’ etc. ‘I got buckhorsed pretty often.’ 1876. Lord Albemarle, Fifty Years of my Life, quoted in Temple Bar, August, 1884, p. 517. He then felled me to the ground by a swinging buckhorse on my right cheek. Buckish, adj. (old).—Foppish; dandyish. [From buck (q.v.) + ish.] Now colloquial. 1782. D’Arblay, Diary, etc. (1876), i., 463. A buckish kind of young man of fashion. 1785. Wolcot (‘P. Pindar’), Apolog. Postscript to Ode upon Ode, in wks. (Dublin, 1795), vol. I., p. 365. Did not good Nathan tell that buckish youth, David the King, that he stole sheep? 1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 57. Having beat the rounds (as buckish spirits phrase it) of that bustling microcoser, the British metropolis, for eighteen months. 1812. Coombe, Dr. Syntax, Picturesque, ch. xvii. A buckish blade, who kept a horse, To try his fortune on the course. 1858. G. Eliot, Janet’s Repentance, ch. v. ‘I’ve made him as neat as a new pin this morning, and he says the Bishop will think him too buckish by half.’ 1873. W. D. Howells, A Chance Acquaintance, ch. xiii. A very buckish young fellow, with a heavy black moustache and black eyes, who wore a jaunty round hat, blue checked trousers, a white vest, and a morning-coat of blue diagonals. Buck-Jump, subs. (stable).—A jump made in buck (q.v., verb, sense 2) fashion. 1864. G. A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, ch. ix. The instant the chestnut was mounted he reared, and indulged in two or three ‘buck-jumps’ that would have made a weaker man tremble for his backbone. Buckle, verb, trans. and intrans. (colloquial).—1. To unite or be united in wedlock—a humorous term. For synonyms, see Splice. French thieves call such a union l’amadouage. 1693. Dryden, Juvenal, vi., 37. Is this an age to buckle with a bride? 1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. lxvii. Who ... declared himself well satisfied with the young man’s addresses, and desired that they might be buckled with all expedition. 1822. Scott, The Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xxxii. ‘Buckle them, my Lord Bishop, as fast as you can.... ‘The Bishop accordingly opened his book and commenced the marriage ceremony.’ 1857. A. Trollope, Three Clerks, ch. xlvi. ‘We could have half a dozen married couples all separating, getting rid of their ribs and buckling again, helter-skelter, every man to somebody else’s wife.’ Buckle-Beggar, subs. (old).—A Fleet prison ‘clergyman’; one who celebrated marriage ceremonies therein; thence, one who celebrated irregular marriages; a hedge priest; one who undertook similar offices for gypsies and tramps—a buckle the beggars.—See Couple-beggar. [Of Scotch derivation, but Cf., Buckle, verb, sense 1.] c. 1700. Ld. Fountainhill, Diary, in Larwood, Bk. Cleric. Anecd., 294. He after turn’d a buckle-beggar, i.e., one who married without license. [M.] 1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xvii. (II., p. 86). A hedge parson, or buckle-beggar, as that order of priesthood has been irreverently termed. Ibid, ch. xxvii. (III., p. 22). Dr. R., who buckles beggars for a tester [sixpence] and a dram of Geneva. Buckled, ppl. adj. (thieves’).—Arrested; taken into custody; ‘scragged.’ Buckle Down, verb (common).—To ‘settle down’; to become reconciled to; a variant of to ‘knuckle down’ (q.v.). 1874. Jos. Hatton, Clytie, bk. III., ch. iv. ‘But you do not buckle down to your position,’ said Cuffing ... ‘you wrangle, you higgle.’ Buckler, subs. (American thieves’).—A collar. Cf., All-rounder. Buckles, subs. (old).—Fetters of any kind. For synonyms, see Darbies. Buckle To, verb (familiar).—To undertake; grapple with; ‘slip in’; work vigorously. 1557. Tusser, Husbandrie, ch. xcvi., st. 84, p. 187 (E.D.S.). Then purchase some pelfe, by fiftie and three: or buckle thy selfe, a drudge for to bee. 1663. Butler, Hudibras, pt. I., ch. ii., l. 926. And fitting it for sudden fight, Straight drew it up, t’attack the Knight, For getting up on stump and huckle, He with the foe began to buckle. 1712. Arbuthnot, Hist. of John Bull, pt. IV., ch. viii. At last Esquire South buckled to, to assist his friend Nic. 1883. James Payn, Thicket than Water, ch. xxvii. ‘Of course it could never have been taken up as a serious occupation; the way you buckled to at it, as I told Mr. Payton, was something amazing.’ 1889. Modern Society, 19 Oct., p. 1302. (‘How the Nobility live in Germany.’) Though, as a rule, courteous to ladies at dinner, when a course is served all buckle to, and conversation is at an end. Each gentleman forgets his fair neighbour, and minds only number one. Between the courses, when nothing better is on, they converse, and always everything is served à la Russe. Bucksome, adj. (Winchester College).—Happy; in a state of ‘buck-uppishness.’—See Buck-up. Buck Up, verbal phr. (Winchester College).—To be glad; pleased. Cf., Buck down. The usual expression is ‘Oh buck up,’ a phrase which at Westminster School would have a very different meaning, namely, ‘exert yourself.’ At Uppingham to be bucked (q.v.) is to be tired. Budge, subs. (old).—1. A pickpocket; a general thief.—See quots., and for synonyms, Area-sneak and Thieves. 1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 48 (1874). Budge, one that steals cloaks. 1674. R. Head, Canting Acad., 95. The Budge ... his employment is in the dark of the Evening, to go into any door that he seeth open, and ... take whatever next cometh to hand. 2. (thieves’.)—Also called sneaking budge (q.v.). In more modern times an accomplice who gains access to a building during the day for the purpose of being locked in. When night comes he is thus easily able to admit his fellow thieves. For synonyms, see Area-sneak, and Cf., Standing bridge. 1752. Fielding, Amelia, bk. I., ch. iii. ‘I find you are some sneaking budge rascal’ [cant term for pilfering]. 3. (old.)—Drink; liquor.—See Drinks. [Thought to be a corruption of booze.] There are several derivatives—Budgy, ‘drunk’; Budging-ken, ‘a public house’; Cove of the budging-ken, ‘a publican’; Budger, ‘a drunkard’—all of which see. 1821. D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, p. 171. Budge, drink. Verb (old slang, but now colloquial).—To move; ‘to make tracks.’ For modern synonyms, see Amputate, and Cf., Budge-a-beake. Budge-a-Beake, verbal phr. (old).—To run away (presumably from justice). There seems some connection in meaning between this expression and a modern phrase—‘to bilk the blues’ (q.v.). [From budge (q.v.), ‘to move away,’ ‘to decamp,’ + a + beak (q.v.), a policeman.] For synonyms, see Amputate. 1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 37 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874). Budge-a-beake, runne away. Budger, subs. (old).—A drunkard. [From budge, subs., sense 3, ‘drink’ (q.v.) + er.] For synonyms, see Elbow crooker. Budging-Ken, subs. (old).—A public house.—See Budge. [From budge, drink, + ken (q.v.), a place or house.] For synonyms, see Lush crib. 1821. D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, p. 171. Budge kain, a public-house. Budgy, adj. (old).—Drunk; intoxicated. [From budge (q.v.), sense 3, drink.] For synonyms, see Screwed. Bud of Promise, subs. phr. (American).—A facetious term for a young, unmarried woman.—See Rosebud. 1889. Charlestown Enterprise. The young, unmarried girl, in sport, Is called a bud of promise; She blooms each year at some resort, The weather when it warm is. And in the Fall a score of men, Whose hearts till now have harm missed, Compare sad notes, and find out then To each the bud is promised. Bud Sallogh (Old Irish).—A term applied to one who practises unmentionable vices.—See Jesuit. Buenos Ayres (provincial).—The Royal Crescent at Margate at the extreme end of the town used to be so called. The houses remained unfinished for a very considerable time.—H. J. Byron. Bufe, subs. (old cant).—A dog. [Murray says, from the sound of its bark.]—See Buffer, and Tike for synonyms. 1567. Harman, Caveat, 84. Bufe, a dogge. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bufe, a dog; Bufe’s nob, a dog’s head. Bufe-Nabber or Napper, subs. (old).—A dog thief. [From bufe, old cant for a ‘dog,’ + nabber, one who steals or ‘nabs.’] For synonyms, see Area-sneak. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bufe-nabber, a dog-stealer. Buff, subs. (common).—1. The bare skin. [An allusion to the colour.] 1654. Chapman, Revenge for Honour, I., i. Then for accoutrements you wear the buff, As you believed it heresy to change For linen: surely most of yours is spent In lint. 1749. H. Fitzcotton, Homer, I., 38. If you perplex me with your stuff—All that are here shan’t save your buff. [M.] 1760. Johnston, Chrysal, II., 235. ‘I have got as many clothes and things of all kinds as would serve to set up a Monmouth-street merchant: if the place had held out but a few days longer, the poor devils must have done duty in their buff; ha! ha! ha!’ ‘And the properest dress for them,’ returned the admiral; ‘who wants any clothes in such a climate as this?’ 1824. Hughes, Magic Lay of the One-horse Chay (Blackwood). When our pair were soused enough, and returned in their buff. 1856. H. Mayhew, Gt. World of London, p. 223. ‘There’s a fine young chap there, stript to the buff, and working away hard!’ 1872. C. King, Sierra Nev., viii., 176. Stripping ourselves to the buff, we hung up our steaming clothes. [M.] 2. (old.)—A man; a fellow; also buffer (q.v.). 1708–15. Kersey, Buff ... a dull Sot, or dronish Fellow. [M.] 1709. Brit. Apollo, II, No. 8, p. 3, col. 2. Tell me Grave Buffs, Partly Gods, partly men. [M.] 1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v. Buff, a Newgate Cant Word used in familiar Salutation as, How dost do, my Buff? 1748. Smollett, Roderick Random, ch. iv., p. 15. Mayhaps old buff has left my kinsman here his heir. 1764. Brydges, Homer Travest. (1797), II., 420. You seem afraid these buffs will flinch. Buff it, verb (common).—1. To swear to; to adhere to a statement hard and fast; to stand firm. [Query from ‘to bluff.’] To buff it is sometimes enlarged—to buff it home. 1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dict., s.v. Buff, To buff to a person or thing, is to swear to the identity of them. 1881. New York Slang Dictionary. Buffing it home is swearing point-blank to anything, about the same as bluffing it, making a bold stand on no backing. 2. (common.)—To strip; to bare oneself to the ‘buff’ or skin. 1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, II., p. 416. ‘You had better buff it, Jim,’ says I; but Jim wouldn’t do it, and kept his trowsers on. Ibid, p. 417. So I locks the door, and buffs it, and forces myself up, etc. In buff, phr. (common).—Naked; in a state of nudity. Among English equivalents are Abram (q.v.) and birthday suit (q.v.), but for all synonyms, see Nature’s garb. 1602. Dekker, Satiro-Mastix. I go in stag, in buff. 1855. Notes and Queries, 1 S., xi., p. 467. We say of one in a state of nudity, ‘he is in buff.’ To stand buff, verbal phr. (old).—To stand the brunt; to pay the piper; to endure without flinching. [From buff, an old pugilistic term for a blow.] a. 1680. Butler, Hudibras’s Epitaph. And for the good old cause stood buff ’Gainst many a bitter kick and cuff. 1697. Vanbrugh, Provoked Wife, I., i. Would my courage come up to a fourth part of my ill-nature, I’d stand buff to her relations, and thrust her out of doors. 1737. Fielding, The Miser, Act ii., Sc. 2. Love. How! rascal, is it you that abandon yourself to those intolerable extravagancies? Fred. I must even stand buff, and outface him. 1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). To stand Buff (v.), to stand stoutly to a thing, to be resolute and unmoved, though the danger be great. 1761. Colman, Jealous Wife, V., i., 139. Stick close to my advice and you may stand buff to a tigress. 1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xii. ‘Stand buff against the reproach of thine over-tender conscience.’ Buff-Ball, subs. (vagrants’).—A dancing party in which both sexes dance together naked. [From buff (q.v.), naked, + ball.] Cf., Ballum rancum. 1880. Greenwood, In Strange Company. The most favourite entertainment at this place is known as buff-ball, in which both sexes—innocent of clothing—madly join, stimulated with raw whiskey, and the music of a fiddle and a tin whistle. Buffer, subs. (old).—1. A dog. [Considerable obscurity surrounds the origin of this term. It occurs in varying forms from 1567 down to the present time. Harman gives it as bufe (1567) and bufa (1573); Rowlands as buffa (1610); Head as bugher (1673); whilst in The Memorials of John Hall it first appears as buffer.] Synonymous terms will be found under Tike. 1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 65. Bufa, a dogge. 1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 37 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874). Buffa, a Dogge. 1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4 ed.), p. 11. Buffer, a Dog. 1842. Lover, Handy Andy, ch. iv. ‘It is not every day we get a badger, you know.... Reilly the butcher has two or three capital dogs, and there’s a wicked mastiff below stairs, and I’ll send for my ‘buffer’ and we’d have some spanking sport.’ 1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 162. They had a dog belonging to them that would be sure to begin a quarrel with another buffer, whenever his master or mistress found a match. 2. (common.)—A man; a fellow—sometimes used with a slightly contemptuous meaning; generally speaking a familiar mode of address, as in Old Buffer, although even this form may be used disparagingly. 1749. H. Fitzcotton, Homer, I. (1748), 23. You’re a buffer always rear’d in The brutal pleasures of Bear-garden, [M.] 1837. Barham, I. L. (The Bagman’s Dog). So I’ll merely observe, as the water grew rougher, The more my poor hero continued to suffer, Till the Sailors themselves cried, in pity, ‘Poor buffer!’ 1882. F. Anstey, Vice Versâ, ch. xiv. ‘I made a first-rate booby-trap, though, one day for an old yellow buffer who came in to see you.’ 3. (pugilistic.)—A boxer; one of ‘the fancy.’ [Hotten gives this as of Irish origin, but it would rather seem to come from O.E. buff, a blow.] 1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, p. 7. Last Tuesday, at Moulsey, the Balance of Power Was settled by twelve Tightish Rounds in an hour, The Buffers, both ‘Boys of the Holy Ground.’—Ibid, p. 51:— Yet, sprightly to the Scratch both Buffers came, While ribbers rung from each resounding frame, And divers digs, and many a ponderous pelt, Were on their broad bread-baskets heard and felt. With roving aim, but aim that rarely miss’d, Round lugs and ogles flew the frequent fist; While showers of facers told so deadly well, That the crush’d jaw-bones crackled as they fell! 4. (old.)—See quots. 1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Buffer, a Rogue that kills good sound Horses only for their Skins. 1737. Bacchus and Venus. Buffer, a rogue that killed good sound horses for the sake of their skins, by running a long wire into them. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Buffer, one that steals and kills horses and dogs for their skins. 5. (old.)—One who took a false oath for a ‘consideration.’ Cf., Bail. 6. (old.)—A pistol. Cf., Barker. 1824. Sir W. Scott, Red Gauntlet. ch. iii. Here be a pair of buffers will bite as well as bark. 7. (old.)—A smuggler; rogue; or cheat. 8. (nautical.)—A navy term for a boatswain’s mate, one of whose duties it is—or was—to administer the ‘cat.’ Cf., O.E. Buff, a blow. Buff Howards, subs. (military).—The Third Regiment of Foot; now contracted into Buffs. It was nicknamed the Buff Howards, from its facings and Colonel from 1737 to 1749; also the Nut-crackers (q.v.); and the Resurrectionists (q.v.), from its re-appearing at the Battle of Albuera after being dispersed by the Polish Lancers; also the ‘Old Buffs,’ from its facings, and to distinguish it from the 31st, the ‘Young Buffs’; but the most ancient ‘Old Buffs’ were the ‘Duke of York and Albany’s Maritime Regiments,’ raised in 1664, and incorporated into the 2nd or Coldstream Guards in 1689. 1886. Tinsley’s Mag., ‘Our Regimental Mottoes and Nicknames,’ April, p. 319. The Buffs—a corps which enjoys the almost unique privilege of marching through the city of London with bayonets fixed. The 3rd Foot owes its immortal cognomen to the fact of its having originally been clad in scarlet, lined and faced with buff; its members also had buff waistcoats, buff breeches, and buff stockings. Being the senior regiment thus clothed, they were occasionally styled the ‘Old Buffs’; and the 31st, raised in 1702, and dressed in a precisely similar fashion, were known as the Young Buffs. The following tradition, however, offers a more circumstantial account of the latter appellation. Having earned in some hotly-contested action, the good opinion of a general under whom they were serving, and who expressed his approbation by calling out to the 31st, ‘Well done, Old Buffs!’ A few of the men, somewhat excited by close combat, replied, ‘We are not the Old Buffs, Sir.’ Whereupon the general cried, ‘Then well done, Young Buffs!’ And so the ‘Young Buffs’ they became, and have since remained, although the days of buff waistcoats and stockings have long passed away. Buffle, subs. (old).—A fool; a stupid person. Cf., Buffle-head and Buff, sense 2. Murray quotes it as occurring in 1655, but the term is, as will be seen, nearly a century older. [After French buffle.] For synonymous terms, see following:— English Synonyms. Buffle-head; Sammy-soft, often contracted into Sammy; sheep’s head; crock (the original meaning is rather concerned with a slow worthless horse, but in sporting phraseology it has also come to mean a foolish, good-for-nothing person); duffer; dotty (also used by prostitutes of a low class to designate their protector or fancy man); cuckoo; calf; cabbage-head; cake; block; greenhorn; old curmudgeon; doddering old sheep’s head. French Synonyms. Un échappé de Charenton (échapper = to escape; Charenton is the name of a lunatic asylum in Paris; hence one escaped from Charenton. Cf., English colloquial use of the names of Hanwell, Colney Hatch, and Bedlam in describing idiotic or foolish conversation or behaviour); échappé d’Herode (Cf., foregoing); un vieil embaumé (this term is applied to a foolish person well advanced in years; an old curmudgeon); un actionnaire (literary: properly a shareholder). German Synonyms. Amhorez (literally a countryman; from Hebrew om, the people, + erez, country); Blechseppel (a soldier’s term); Chammer (a butcher’s or knacker’s word; it also signifies a donkey, and is derived from the Hebrew chamor); Dilmisch, Dilledapp, Dilldapp, Dilledali, Dellemelle, Dirledapp, Didel, Tatidel, Dudeldop, Dilldan (all these are popular expressions for a stupid fellow. Cf., dildalfen = to exhaust); Ewil (from the Hebrew owal; the term also stands for a sinner); Godeschaute (a great fool, a perfect fool; from the Hebrew godol, great, strong, celebrated, + schoto, a fool); Gomol (used only as a nickname; from the Hebrew gamal, a camel); Hanne or Hannes (a shortened form of Johannes, the German for the English John; it is curious that in both languages the nicknames Hanne and Jack should, as applied to men, always be used depreciatingly, see Jack); Harbogen, Hornickel, Hornigel (besides signifying a fool or weak-headed one, these words are used to designate an ox; they are employed indiscriminately); Heckel, Häckel, Hegel (also a fop; heckeln = to fool anyone, probably from hacken or hecheln, to hew, to hackle); Koppel (a diminutive of Jacob; sometimes written Jockel); Ksil (from the Hebrew kossal; variations in spelling are Kessil, Kessel, and in students’ slang Theekessel); Nebbich or Newich (among thieves employed to designate the clumsy, stupid fellow who is only entrusted with unimportant tasks connected with a robbery, such for instance as holding the sacks in which the stolen property is placed, or in carrying off the plunder); Nille or Knolle or Nolle (these terms are used to signify a fool, jester, or the male penis); Nowel or Newil or Nebel (also a cunning fellow, a rogue or ‘sly blade’; das ist ein Newele, the equivalent of the Low German dat is een Aas vun Kêrl might be rendered by the English ‘he is a devil of a fellow’); Oochbram or Ogbrôm (a fool or rather one whose craziness resembles in extent the traditional stature of Og, King of Bashan—at least authorities agree in thinking this the most likely derivation of the word. Among the Jews Og is taken as an image of gigantic size. When the Israelites advanced on Edrëi, Og sat on the wall of the town, and his feet reached to the ground, so that Moses at first thought he was part of the wall, but when he discovered that it was a man he was seized with terror. Rum = on high, therefore Og b’rum = the [great] Og on high. Er hat die Grösse von Og Melech haboschon, he has the size of Og, King of Bashan. A corresponding expression is found in the Low German, de lange Rick, i.e., a tall, slenderly built fellow); Schote or Schaute or Schotte (from the Hebrew schoto; used especially of one who can be cheated or robbed with his eyes open; a tradesman or money changer who can be robbed while transacting business at the counter or while exchanging money); Sonof (a Hebrew word signifying properly a tail, and mostly used proverbially of things low and contemptible. It is also employed to designate the male penis; the German Gaunerspräche offers frequent examples in which contemptible names are also used synonymously for the male and female organs of generation). Italian Synonyms. Fiadetto (besides its meaning of a dolt or duffer, this term is also applied to a thief, rogue, or indeed a villain of any description); ribeba or ribecca (a goose or simpleton; properly a violin or Jewish harp); cordovano (this also means in the Fourbesque, a big man; properly it is the name of Morocco or Spanish leather); furlana; marietta or marietto (a dolt or dunce). Spanish Synonym. Dupa (Cf., English dupe). 1580. Beehive of the Romish Churche, fo. 66 b. An unlearned buffle did babble. 1655. Comic Hist. Francion, iv., 22. He said to the three buffles who stood with their hats in their hands. Tell me you Waggs, etc. [M.]. 1710. Pol. Ballads (1860), II., 90. To see the chief attorney such a buffle. Buffle-Head, subs. (old).—An ignoramus; a stupid obtuse fellow. Cf., Buffle, and which see for synonyms. 1659. Lady Alimony, I., ii., in Hazl. Dodsley, xiv., 278. What a drolling buffle-head is this! 1663. Pepys, Diary, March 17. But my Lord Mayor a talking, bragging, buffle-headed fellow. 1668. Pepys, Diary, Jan. 29. He tells me that Townsend, of the Wardrobe, is the veriest knave and buffle-head that ever he saw. 1677. Wycherley, Plain Dealer, Act ii. Oliv. You know nothing, you buffle-headed stupid creature you. 1686. D’Urfey, Commonwealth of Women, I., i. A damn’d huffing fellow yonder, a Rebel, Whiggy buffle-head. 1754. B. Martin, Eng. Dict., 2 ed. Buffle-head, an ignoramus, or dull sot. 1887. Dead Man’s Rock, bk. I., ch. v. ‘Jonathan’s a buffle-head ... a daft fule like Jonathan.’ Buffleheaded, adj. (old).—Stupid; idiotic; foolish. [From bufflehead, a foolish fellow (q.v.), + ed.] 1883. Baring Gould, John Herring, vol. II., ch. xxv., p. 275. (Tauchnitz ed.) ‘A buffleheaded sort of a chap,’ said Joyce. Buffs, subs. (military).—The Third Regiment of Foot in the British army. From their facings.—See Buff Howards. 1849. Macaulay, Hist. England, I., 295. The third regiment, distinguished by flesh-coloured facings, from which it derived the well-known name of the Buffs. 1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, I., p. 232. His father was a captain in the Buffs, and himself a commissioned officer at seventeen. 1874. Saturday Review, p. 95. This regiment [the First or Grenadier Guards] has almost the longest record of any in the service, only yielding, we believe, to the 1st Royals, and to the 3rd Buffs, which were originally raised for the service of the States-General of Holland. Buffy, adj. (common).—Intoxicated. For synonyms, see Screwed. 1866. Yates, Land at Last, I., p. 85. Flexor was fine and buffy when he came home last night, after you was gone, sir. 1872. Besant and Rice, R. M. Mortiboy, ch. xlii. ‘My ideas take me first of all unawares. They generally begin, like a toothache, when I least expect them. Perhaps when I feel a little buffy, in the morning; mayhap, after an extra go of grog the night before. Then one comes all of a sudden.’ Bug, subs. (thieves’).—1. A breast pin. 2. (Old Irish.)—A jeering name for an Englishman—Grose says ‘because bugs were introduced into Ireland by Englishmen!!’ 3. (American.)—The term bug is, in the United States, not confined merely, as in England, to the domestic pest, but is applied to all insects of the Coleoptera order, which includes what in this country are generally called beetles. The English bug (Cimex lectularius) is, in the Southern States, known as the chinch. It may be mentioned, however, that at Winchester College a usage akin to that prevailing in America exists. There a bug merely means an insect, whether belonging to the Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, or any other order. Synonyms for the English domestic pest will be found under Norfolk Howards. 1642. Rogers, Naaman the Syrian, 74. Do not all as much and more wonder at God’s rare workmanship in the Ant, the poorest bugge that creeps. 1888. Grass Valley (Cal.) Tidings. Entomology, or bugology, is now taught to some extent in our public schools. This is well, and is of use. The children ought to learn about the bugs that are destructive to useful vegetation. It is better to learn much about bugs than so much about how to solve those arithmetical problems that will never face anybody in the practical affairs of life. 1888. Daily Inter-Ocean, March. The Insane Asylum Board some time ago discontinued a bug-killer’s employment, and the doctor avers that the old hospital building is swarming with cockroaches, and that these bugs will soon be large and fat enough to carry out the inmates and take their food and clothes. 4. (American.)—Bug is also used idiomatically in various combinations, as big bugs (q.v.), a jocose and vulgar name for persons of wealth or distinction. Thence, similarly, cattle-bugs, that is, wealthy stock-raisers; gold-bugs, or monied men, etc. 1843. Haliburton, Sam Slick in England, ch. xv. The great guns and big bugs have to take in each other’s ladies. Ibid, p. 24. Pick out the big bugs and see what sort of stuff they’re made of. 1888. St. Louis Globe Democrat, March 5. ‘Would Senator Allison’s well-known views on silver coinage operate materially against him in New York.’ ‘I think not; I do not think the feeling against silver is anything like as strong as it was. Of course, a few gold-bugs might fight him, but any of the men I have mentioned are reasonably certain to carry New York.’ That beats the bugs, phr. (American).—A phrase conveying a high mead of praise; ‘that beats cock-fighting.’ Verb (old).—1. A cant word among journeymen hatters, signifying the exchanging some of the dearest materials of which a hat is made for others of less value. Hats are composed of the furs and wools of diverse animals, among which is a small portion of bever’s fur. Bugging is stealing the bever, and substituting in lieu thereof an equal weight of some cheaper ingredient. Bailiffs who take money to postpone or refrain the serving of a writ, are said to bug the writ.—Grose. 2. (thieves’.)—To bribe. In old slang, bailiffs accepting money to delay service were said to bug the writ. 3. (thieves’.)—To give; hand over; to deliver. Cf., sense 2. 1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dict. ‘He bug’d me a quid.’ ‘Bug over the rag.’ Bugaroch, adj. (Old Irish).—Pretty; comely; handsome.—Grose. Bug-Blinding, subs. (military).—Whitewashing operations. Bugger, subs. (old).—1. A thief whose speciality is stealing breast-pins from drunken men. [From bug, a cant term for a breast pin, + (g) ger.] Also called a bug hunter. For synonymous terms, see Area-sneak and Bug-hunter. 2. (low.)—A man; a fellow. A coarse term of abuse without, however, any reference to the legal meaning—a sodomite. The French has an exact equivalent in Bougre, which Littré says is une terme de mépris et d’injure, usité dans le langage populaire le plus trivial et le plus grossier. The term, as applied to a man, is equivalent to bitch (q.v.), as applied to women. Hence also buggery (q.v.). 1719. D’Urfey, Pills, I., 59. From every trench the bougers fly. [M.] 1854. M. Holmes, Tempest and Sun, 203. ‘If I’d known all you city buggers was comin’, I’d a kivered my bar feet.’ [M.] Buggery, adj. (low).—An indefinite expression signifying disgust; or disapprobation. Of the same type as bloody, blamed, blasted, etc. (q.v.), but conveying a somewhat intenser meaning. 1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, I., p. 23. A buggery fool, why don’t he let people go to hell their own way? Ibid, p. 180. Here mother, give us one of your buggery trotters. Buggy, subs. (old).—A leather bottle. Bugher.—See Buffer. Bug-Hunter, subs. (thieves’).—A thief who plunders drunken men. The same as bugger, sense 1. French Synonyms. Un poivrier (popular and thieves’); un allumeur (this term is also applied to an auction room ‘button’ or confederate, and to a card-sharper’s decoy); faire un louave, or faire les gavés (to go bug-hunting. Louave and gavé = drunkard, the latter from gaver, to glut). 1856. H. Mayhew, Gt. World of London, p. 46. Those who hocus or plunder persons by stupefying; as ‘drummers,’ who drug liquor, and ‘bug-hunters,’ who plunder drunken men. 2. subs. (old).—An upholsterer.—Lexicon Balatronicum. Bug-Juice, subs. (common).—1. Ginger ale. 2. (American.)—The Schlechter whiskey of the Pennsylvania Dutch—a very inferior spirit. Also called bug-poison. These terms are now applied to bad whiskey of all kinds. For synonyms, see Drinks. 1888. Texas Siftings, 7 July. It is a singular fact, that nearly every character introduced by Charles Dickens into his numerous novels, was addicted to drinking ... each and every individual took his bug-poison with surprising regularity and eminent satisfaction. Bugle It, verb (American cadets’).—To abstain from going into class until the last moment—i.e., until the bugle sounds. Bug Walk, subs. (common).—A bed. [Derivation obvious.] English Synonyms. Bedfordshire; Sheet Alley; Blanket Fair; Land of Nod; doss; rip; Cloth Market. French Synonyms. Un portfeuille (familiar: properly ‘a portfolio’); la boîte à puces (popular: this almost exactly corresponds to the English ‘bug walk,’ the French phrase signifying ‘the flea box’); le pucier (popular: from puce = flea); le tremblant (popular); le plumard (popular); le fournil (popular and thieves’); la halle aux draps (popular: literally, Sheet Market or Fair. Cf., English ‘Blanket Fair’); le pagne; le panier aux ordures. Build, subs. and verb (popular).—Properly ‘to build is to construct,’ says Murray, ‘for a dwelling and by extension of meaning ... to construct by fitting together of separate parts; chiefly with reference to structures of considerable size ... (not, e.g., a watch or a piano).’ Difficult as it may be at times to draw a dividing line between a literary, or even a colloquial usage and a slang signification, there can be little doubt that when build is applied to the make or style of dress, that it is the purest slang—‘It’s a tidy build, who made it?’ A tailor, it may be noted, is sometimes called a ‘trousers’ builder.’ In the United States, this verb is used with much more latitude than in England. There, as Fennimore Cooper puts it, everything is built. The priest builds up a flock; the speculator a fortune; the lawyer a reputation; the landlord a town; and the tailor, as in England, builds up a suit of clothes. A fire is built instead of made, and the expression is even extended to individuals, to be built being used with the meaning of formed. ‘I was not built that way’; and hence in a still more idiomatic sense to express unwillingness to adopt a specified course or carry out any inconvenient plan.—See Not built that way. 1853. Wh. Melville, Digby Grand, ch. xx. That creator of manly beauty, who builds your coat on the model of an Apollo. 1853. Rev. E. Bradley (‘Cuthbert Bede’), Verdant Green, pt. I., ch. x. If he forswore the primitive garments that his country-tailor had condemned him to wear, and adapted the build of his dress to the peculiar requirements of university fashion. 1871. A. Forbes, My Experience of the War, etc., II., p. 19. I met a gentleman who had got a dress coat built in the place [Versailles]. 1880. Punch, Jan. 10, p. 6. The spread of education and liberal ideas.—His Grace the Duke of Poplar and Bermondsey. ‘Just look at these bags you last built me, Snippe! J’ever see such beastly bags in your life? I shall always be glad to come and dine with you, old man; but I’ll be hanged if you shall ever measure me for another pair of bags!’ Mr. Snippe (of Snippe and Son, St. James’s Street). ‘You’ve always grumbled about your bags, as you call ’em, ever since you were my fag at Eton; and at Christchurch you were just as bad, even though my poor dear old governor used to come all the way down and measure you himself. It ain’t the fault of the bags, my dear Popsy—it’s the fault of the legs inside ’em! So, shut up, old Stick-in-the-mud, and let’s join the ladies—the duchess has promised to give us “Little Billee.”’ Build a chapel, verbal phr. (nautical).—To steer badly, and so cause a ship to veer round. Not built that way, phr. (general).—Not to one’s taste, in one’s line—a general expression of disapproval or dissent, whether said of persons or things. 1881. American Humorist, May 12. We cannot shut our eyes to the fact that mankind is passing through a great era of change; even womankind is not built as she was a few brief years ago. 1888. Missouri Republican, Jan. 25. ‘Why didn’t you roll down?’ ‘I wasn’t built that way.’ Bulgarian Atrocities, subs. (Stock Exchange).—Varna and Rutschuk Ry. 3 per cent. obligations. 1887. Atkin, House Scraps. And we’ve really quite a crew Of fancy names to represent a share.... But fancy, by the way, Now, in the present day, A Varna’s a Bulgarian atrocity. Bulge, verb (American).—The legitimate meaning is extended in many odd ways. ‘Bags’ bulge, but do not get baggy; and in a similar fashion when a man is ‘all attention,’ his eyes are said to bulge. 1888. Puck’s Library, May, p. 31. A Phenomenal Fee. ‘Yes,’ said a pompous young lawyer, on a street-car, to a friend: ‘I hadn’t been downtown half an hour this morning, before I got a fee of ten dollars!’ Then the eyes of a man who was hanging on to a strap began TO bulge. ‘I say, young feller,’ he whispered earnestly: ‘what saloon d’ye work at? I’m a waiter, myself!’ To go or be on a bulge, verbal phr. (American).—To drink to excess. To get the bulge on one, verbal phr. (American mining slang).—To obtain an advantage over; an equivalent is to get the drop on one. 1869. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Innocents at Home, p. 18. Well, you’ve rather got the bulge on me. Or maybe we’ve both got the bulge, somehow. 1885. Household Words, Oct. 10, p. 466. ‘Smart chap, that Jacob, for a nig!’ remarked he, as we told him the outlines of our story. ‘I guess now he’s had the bulge on you pretty considerable this trip.’ 1888. American Humorist, May 12. ‘Pop! are you up there?’ ‘Yes, my son.’ ‘I saw he had the bulge on you and I got the gun and dropped him!’ ‘Right, my boy. That’s what I was praying for.’ Bulger, adj. (common).—Large; synonymous with buster (q.v.). Bulk, subs. (old).—See quots.—See also File and Bulker, sense 2. 1674. R. Head, Canting Acad., 35. Bulk and File. The one jostles you, whilst the other picks your pocket. 1725. New Cant. Dict. Bulk, an assistant to a File or Pickpocket, who jostles a Person up against the Wall, while the other picks his Pocket. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bulk and file, two pickpockets; the bulk jostles the party to be robbed, and the file does the business. Bulker, subs. (old).—1. A prostitute of a low type—generally one who had no settled home; one who slept on a ‘bulk,’ a kind of sill projecting from a window. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack. 1691. Shadwell, Scowerers, Act i., Sc. 1. ‘Every one in a petticoat is thy mistress, from humble bulker to haughty countess.’ 1728. Baily, Bulker, a Common Jilt; a Whore.—Canting term. [In a later edition (1790) he adds ‘one who would lay down on a bulk to anyone.’] 2. (old.)—A thief. Cf., Bulk. 1669. Nicker Nicked, in Hart. Misc. (ed. Park), II., 108. Bulker occurs in a list of names of thieves. 1678. Four for a Penny, in Hart. Misc. (ed. Park), IV., 147. He is the treasurer of the thieves’ exchequer, the common fender of all bulkers and shop-lifts in the town. Bulky, subs. (provincial).—A police constable. Said to be a northern term. For synonyms, see Beak. 1821. Edinburgh Mag., August, p. 156. This enterprising ruffian boasts of his success in deceiving the bulkies on a search, by concealing his stolen notes in the cape of his coat. 1841. Lytton, Night and Morning, bk. V., ch. ii. ‘Inquiries about your respectability would soon bring the bulkies about me.’ Adj. (Winchester College).—Rich or generous, or both. The opposite of brum (q.v.). Bull, subs. (colloquial.)—1. Formerly a blunder or mistake; now generally understood as an inconsistent statement; a ludicrous contradiction, often partaking largely of the nature of a pun. [Bull in M.E. = to befool; to mock.] The term was current long before the form Irish bull is met with. 1642. Milton, Apol. for Smect., § 6. But that such a poem should be toothless, I still affirm it to be a bull, taking away the essence of that which it calls itself. For if it bite neither the persons nor the vices, how is it a satire? And if it bite either, how is it toothless? 1673. Dryden, The Assignation, Act iii., Sc. 1. Ben. Faith, lady, I could not sleep one wink, for dreaming of you. Lan. Not sleep for dreaming? When the place falls, you shall be bull master general at court. 1689. Selden, Table Talk, p. 96 (Arber’s ed.). We can make no notion of it, ’tis so full of intricacy, so full of contradiction: ’tis in good earnest, as we state it, half-a-dozen bulls one upon another. 1705. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus, vol. II., pt. I., p. 6. With Stale Quibbles, Puns, and Bulls. 1841. Lever, Charles O’Malley, ch. i. ‘I have got into such an infernal habit of making bulls, that I can’t write sense when I want it.’ 1859. H. Kingsley, Geoffrey Hamlyn, ch. xxxix. He was telling the most outrageous of Irish stories, and making, on purpose, the most outrageous of Irish bulls. In this connection it may be noted that in French cavalry regiments portez! and remettez! are mock commands given upon the perpetration of a bull. La calinotade signifies in the popular speech a ludicrous or foolish saying, whilst one given to uttering them is termed un calino. 2. (thieves’.)—A crown or five shilling piece. Formerly bull’s eye (q.v.). [The origin is doubtful. It may be a mere allusion to the circular shape, or it may be of classical derivation, and be a reference to the herds and flocks which at one time constituted a man’s wealth. Cf., Latin pecunia, from pecus, cattle or oxen.] 1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dictionary. Bull, a crown, or five shillings. 1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 232. List of patterers’ words. Bull, a crown. 1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xlvi. Four half-bulls, wot you may call half-crowns. 1857. Notes and Queries, 2 S., 4 July. And therefore much as a bull (or a hog) stand arbitrarily for a five-shilling-piece, half-a-bull for half a-crown, a bob for a shilling, a tanner for sixpence, etc., with equal propriety might a plum stand for £100,000. 1889. Answers, July 27, p. 136, col. 2. Once found, the ‘lurker’ is pretty sure to draw a bull (five shillings), or even a ‘counter’ (pound). 3. (Stock Exchange.)—Originally a speculative purchase for a rise; i.e., a man would agree to buy stock at a future day at a stated price with no intention of taking it up, but trusting to the market advancing in value to make the transaction profitable. Bull is the reverse of bear (q.v.). The term is now more frequently applied to the person engaged in the above-mentioned tactics, i.e., to one who tries to enhance the value of stocks by speculative purchases or otherwise. Also used as a verb and adjective. b. 1671, d. 1757. Cibber, The Refusal, or The Ladies’ Philosophy. Granger (to Witling, who has been boasting of his gain): And all this out of ‘Change Alley’? Witling: Every shilling, Sir, all out of stocks, Pulls, Bulls, Rams, Bears, and Bubbles. 1768. Foote, Devil upon Two Sticks, Act i. A mere bull and bear booby; the patron of lame ducks, brokers, and fraudulent foot bankrupts. 1774. Coleman, Man of Business, IV., i., in wks. (1777) II., 179. My young master is the bull, and Sir Charles is the bear. He agreed for stock, expecting it to be up at three hundred by this time; but, lack-a-day, sir, it has been falling ever since. 1817. Scott, Rob Roy, ch. iv. The hum and bustle which his approach was wont to produce among the bulls, bears, and brokers of Stock Alley. 1860. Peacock, Gryll Grange, ch. xviii. In Stock Exchange slang, Bulls are speculators for a rise, Bears for a fall. 1881. Mark Lane Express, Aug. 8, p. 1085. The speculative movement which has, so far, exerted a bull influence on the maize market. On the French Bourse a bull is called un haussier; in Berlin he is known as liebhaler; and in Vienna the term used is contremine. 4. (nautical.)—See Bull the cask or barrel. 5. (common.)—Explained by quotation. 1887. G. R. Sims, How the Poor Live, p. 148. In these places, too, the lodgers divide their food frequently, and a man, seeing a neighbour without anything, will hand him his teapot, and say, ‘Here you are, mate; here’s a bull for you.’ A ‘bull’ is a teapot with the leaves left in for a second brew. 6. (thieves’.)—Prison rations of meat, an allusion to its toughness; also generally used for meat without any reference to its being either tough or tender. A French equivalent is la bidoche. [Its derivation is suggested in the following quot.] 1883. Echo, Jan. 25, p. 2, col. 3. Thus from the French ‘bouilli’ we probably get the prison slang term bull for a ration of meat. 7. (American.)—A locomotive; the word is sometimes lengthened into bullgine. 8. (Winchester College.)—Cold beef, introduced at breakfast about 1873. Verb (American University).—At Dartmouth College to recite badly; to make a poor recitation. [From the substantive bull, a blunder or contradiction, or from the use of the word as a prefix, signifying large, lubberly, blundering.] Stale bull, subs. (Stock Exchange).—Stock held over for a long period with profit. Bull and Cow, subs. (rhyming slang).—A row. Bull-Bait, verb (? nonce word).—To bully; hector; badger. [Clearly a figurative usage of the legitimate word.] 1860. Dickens, Great Expectations, ch. xviii., p. 82. ‘Which I meantersay,’ cried Joe, ‘that if you come into my place bull-baiting and badgering me, come out!’ Bull-Beef, subs. (old).—A frequently recurring term of contempt. Prisoners apply it to the hard, stringy meat supplied to them, and formerly the expression was in general use. ‘As ugly as bull-beef’; ‘as big as bull-beef’; ‘go and sell yourself for bull-beef’; were common colloquialisms at the end of the last and the beginning of the present century. Sometimes contracted into bull. Cf., Bully beef. 1579. Gosson, Apol. of the Schoole of Abuse, p. 64 (Arber). I vnderstand they are all in a fustian fume.... They haue eaten bul-bief, and threatned highly too put water in my woortes whensoeuer they catche me. 1607. Rowlands, Diogines Lanthorne, p. 8 (H. Cl. Repr., 1873). How lookes yonder fellow? what’s the matter with him trow? has a eaten bul-beefe? there’s a lofty slaue indeede, hee’s in the altitudes. 1738–1819. Wolcot (‘P. Pindar’), Rights of Kings, Ode I., in wks. (Dublin, 1795), vol. II., p. 219. The Cooks, Bluff on th’ occasion, put on bull’s-beef looks. 1782. Wolcot, Lyric Odes, No. 3, in wks. (1809) I., 62. Yet thou may’st bluster like bull-beef so big. 1860. Haliburton (‘Sam Slick’), The Season Ticket, x. Which look as cheap as bull-beef at one cent a pound. 1868. Brewer, Phrase and Fable, p. 524. To look as big as bull-beef. To look stout and hearty, as if fed on bull-beef. Bull-beef was formerly recommended for making men strong and muscular. 1888. Ashton, Mod. Street Ballads, p. 61. For soon he will his trial take, And hard bull-beef be munching. Bull Calf, subs. (old).—See quot. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bull calf, a great hulkey or clumsy fellow. Bull Chin, subs. (old).—Explained by quotation. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bull chin, a fat, chubby child. Bull-Dance, subs. (nautical).—A dance in which only men take part. Cf., Stag-dance, Gander-party, Hen-party, etc. 1867. Smyth, Sailors’ Word Book. Bull-dance. At sea it is performed by men only when without women. It is sometimes called a stag-dance. 1887. Graphic, March 26, p. 315, col. 3. It is obliged to be a bull-dance. Gentlemen dance with gentlemen, and the pianist is, of course, a gentleman also. Bull-Dog, subs. (old).—1. A sheriff’s officer; a bailiff. 1698. Farquhar, Love and a Bottle, iii., 2. Mock. But pray what’s the matter, Mrs. Lyric? Lyric. Nothing, sir, but a shirking bookseller that owed me about forty guineas for a few lines. He would have put me off, so I sent for a couple of bull-dogs, and arrested him. 2. (old.)—A pistol; in the naval service a main-deck gun. Cf., Barker and Bull-dog blazer. 1700. Farquhar, Constant Couple, iii., 2. He whips out his stiletto, and I whips out my bull-dog. 1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ii., 191. ‘I have always a brace of bull-dogs about me.’... So saying, he exhibited a very handsome, highly-finished, and richly-mounted pair of pistols. 1867. Smyth, Sailors’ Word Book. Bull-dog or muzzled bull-dog, the great gun which stands housed in the officer’s ward-room cabin. General term for main-deck guns. 1881. Daily News, Oct. 27, p. 6, col. 2. Revolver cartridges of the ordinary ‘bull-dog’ pattern. 3. (old.)—See quot. 1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dict. Bull-dog, a sugar-loaf. 4. (University.)—A proctor’s assistant or marshall. Cf., quot. from Brewer’s Reader’s Handbook. 1823. Lockhart, Reg. Dalton, I., x. (1842), 59. Long forgotten stories about proctor’s bit and bull-dogs baffled. [M.] 1841. Lytton, Night and Morning, bk. III., ch. iii. ‘The proctor and his bull-dogs came up ... and gave chase to the delinquents ... the night was dark, and they reached the College in safety.’ 1847. Tennyson, Princess, Prologue. We unworthier told Of college: he had climb’d across the spikes, And he had squeezed himself betwixt the bars, And he had breath’d the Proctor’s dogs. 1880. Brewer, Reader’s Handbook. Bull-dogs, the two servants of a university proctor, who follow him in his rounds, to assist him in apprehending students who are violating the university statues, such as appearing in the streets after dinner without cap and gown, etc. 5. (University: obsolete.)—A name for a member of Trinity College, Cambridge. Bull-Dog Blazer, subs. (American).—A revolver. [Probably a mere amplification of the kindred English canting term; bull-dog, a pistol, + blazer, an allusion to the flash attendant upon firing.] For synonyms, see Meat in the pot. Bull-Dose, subs. (American).—A severe castigation or flogging. Verb.—To thrash; to intimidate; to bully. A term of Southern political origin, originally referring to an association of negroes formed to insure, by violent and unlawful means, the success of an election. The phrase has now passed into general use, political and otherwise, to signify the adoption and use of coercive measures. [The derivation is almost literal—a bull-dose, a flogging with a strip of hide; the action itself being represented by the verb to bulldose. Though indifferently spelt both with single and double ‘l’ and with ‘s’ and ‘z,’ the correct version is bulldose.] Also derivatives bulldoser (q.v.), and bull-dosing, mutatis mutandis, of a kindred meaning. 1876. New York Tribune, Dec. There was a bad case of ‘bulldozing’ in Cincinnati on Monday night. A handful of bold Democrats had gathered to let out their pent-up desire for Tilden or blood.... Mr. C—— was in the chair, and was warming up the faithful with an address, when the Republicans crowded around him in so threatening a manner that he mounted the table, shook his address in their faces, and declared, like a true hero, that he was not to be ‘intimidated.’ 1880. Illust. London News, vol. LXXVII., p. 587, col. 1. The Americans have lately been using a strange word, ‘bull-dosing,’ which signifies, I believe, political intimidation, but not personal molestation. 1881. Sat. Review, July 9, p. 40, col. 2. To ‘bull-dose’ a negro in the Southern States means to flog him to death or nearly to death. 1881. Sat. Review, July 9, p. 40, col. 2. A ‘bull-dose’ means a large efficient dose of any sort of medicine or punishment. 1887. Cassell’s Mag. (Art. on ‘Americanisms’), June, p. 412. To ‘bulldoze’ is to intimidate, and the word was originally used respecting the alleged interference with negro voters in Louisiana. 1888. Detroit Evening Journal, 20 Feb. The Democrats complain of the amounts of money they had to face, but that was not such a source of trouble as the bulldozing of voters by the mining bosses. They were driven to the polls, and compelled to vote for Seymour. A French equivalent is faire son fendart (fendart signifies ‘braggart’ or ‘swaggerer’; fendant in literary French means a hector or bully). Bull-Doser, subs. (American).—1. A bully; braggart; swaggerer. Cf., Bull-dose. French printers call a bully un mata, an abbreviation of matador. It is curious that this term in the original Spanish not only signifies a killer of bulls (as in a bull-fight), but also a murderer. 1878. N. American Review, vol. CXXVII., p. 426. The great ‘bulldozer’ of Europe. 1882. New York Tribune, 3 May. The hotel where he was staying was visited ... by a mob of bull-dozers. [M.] 2. A pistol. 1881. Sat. Review, July 9, p. 40, col. 2. A Californian bull-doser is a pistol which carries a bullet heavy enough to destroy human life with certainty. Bullet. To give the bullet, verbal phr. (common).—To discharge an employé. Cf., To give the bag, sense 2, under Bag, and Sack. [Possibly a punning allusion to the word ‘discharge.’] The term is variously used. To shake the bullet at anyone, is to threaten with ‘the sack,’ but not to give actual notice to leave. To get the bullet is to get notice, while to get the instant bullet is to be discharged upon the spot. 1841. Savage, Dict. of Art of Printing. A workman was said to have got the bullet when he was discharged instanter—without the customary notice on either side. 1872. Chamb. Jour., March 9, p. 147. When a fellow gets the bullet from his work, he mostly has a spell at cab-driving. 1887. Punch, Sept. 17, p. 126. I have just got the ‘bullet,’ Mate—sacked without notice. Bullfinch, subs. (old).—1. A stupid fellow. 2. (hunting.)—A high thick hedge; one difficult to jump or rush through. [Most authorities agree in suggesting the origin of this term in a corruption of ‘bull-fence,’ i.e., a fence capable of preventing cattle from straying.] 1832. Quart. Rev., Mar., 226. The bull-finch fence ... is a quickset hedge of perhaps fifty years’ growth, with a ditch on one side or the other, and so high and strong that [one] cannot clear it. [M.] 1864. G. A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, ch. ix. The third is a teaser—an ugly black bull-finch with a ditch on the landing side, and a drop into a ploughed field. 1880. The Times, Nov. 2, p. 4, col. 5. They are almost invariably attired in double-stitched shooting coats, that will stand the ordeal of ‘bull-finches’ and brambles. 1889. Man of the World, June 29. See Harrington, the belted earl, bear down an opponent in the jousts, charging with lance or sword as if he were riding at a South Notts bull-finch. Bull-Jine, subs. (nautical).—A sailor’s term for a locomotive. [Thought to be of American origin, New York thieves using the same term, as also an abbreviated form—bull.] Bull Money, subs. (harlotry).—Money extorted from or given by those who in places of public resort have been detected in flagrante delicto with a woman, as a bribe to silence. Bull-Nurse, subs. (nautical).—See quot. 1885. Graphic, April 4, p. 326, col. 3. ‘Bull-nurses.’ Perhaps we ought to apologise for using this word; but years ago (it may be so still) it was the sailors’ phrase to indicate a male-attendant on the sick. Bullock, subs. (schoolboys’).—1. See quot. 1855. J. K., in Notes and Queries, 1 S., v., 12, 3 Nov., p. 344. Bullock, a cheat; but as I think, only when cheating at marbles. 2. (Australian.)—A countryman or bushman. Cf., Bullock-puncher. Verb.—To bully; to bounce over; to intimidate. [Query from bully.] 1716. M. Davies, Ath. Brit., I., 272. Upon the evidence of that bullocking Fryer Campanella. [M.] 1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. II., ch. vi. ‘And then you have charged me with bullocking you into owning the truth.’ 1763. Foote, Mayor of Garratt, Act ii., Sc. 2. She shan’t think to bullock and domineer over me. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bullock, to hector, bounce, or bully. Bullock’s Heart.—See Token. Bullock’s Horn, verb (rhyming slang).—To pawn. For synonyms, see Pop. Bull Party, subs. (old).—A party of men only. Cf., Bull-dance, Stag-party, Hen-tea, etc. Bull-Puncher.—A variant of cow-puncher (q.v.). Bull’s Eye, subs. (schoolboys’).—1. A sweetmeat of which peppermint is an important ingredient. [It received its name in allusion to its globular shape.] 1825. Hone, Every-day Bk., I., 51. Hardbake, brandy-balls, and bull’s-eyes. [M.] 1882. Punch, vol. LXXXII., p. 83. Dr. Switcher (who had discovered bull’s eyes about, and traced them to the original donor). ‘Don’t you know, Muggins, there’s an old proverb that “Fools give feasts and Wise men eat them”’? Muggins. ‘Yes, Sir, and there’s another one, sir.’ The Doctor. ‘What’s that, sir? Now, Sir?’—(noticing a reticence)—‘What is it, Sir?’—(sternly)—‘or else—!’ Muggins (seeing no escape). ‘Please, Sir, “W—— wise men make proverbs and F—— Fools repea——.”’ [Catches it!] 2. (old.)—A five-shilling piece, otherwise known as a bull (q.v.). 1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. [Mentioned as a cant term for a crown.] 1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4 ed.), p. 11. Bull’s-eye, a Crown. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bull’s-eye, a crown piece. Bull’s-eye Villas, subs. (military).—A nickname given to the small open tents used by the Volunteers at their annual gathering. [An allusion to bull’s-eye in its meaning of the centre of a target.] Bull’s Feather. To give [or get] the bull’s feather, verbal phr. (old).—To be made, or be a cuckold. Cf., Acteon. The French say also planter des plumes de bœuf. 16(?). Song of the 17th Century, quoted by Nares—‘The Bull’s Feather.’ It chanced not long ago as I was walking, An echo did bring me where two were a talking, ’Twas a man said to his wife, dye had I rather, Than to be cornuted and wear a bull’s feather. Then presently she reply’d sweet, art thou jealous? Thou canst not play Vulcan before I play Venus; Thy fancies are foolish, such follies to gather, There’s many an honest man hath worn the bull’s feather— Though it be invisible, let no man it scorn, Though it be a new feather made of an old horn, He that disdains it in heart or mind either, May he be the more subject to wear the bull’s feather. 1748. Richardson, Cl. Harlowe, v., 295. A good whimsical instrument, take it altogether! But what, thinkest thou, are the arms to this matrimonial harbinger?... Three crooked horns, smartley top-knotted with ribands; which being the ladies’ wear, seem to intimate that they may very probably adorn, as well as bestow, the bull’s-feather. Bull the Cask or Barrel, verbal phr. (nautical).—To pour water into a rum cask when empty, with a view to keeping the wood moist and preventing leakage. The water, receiving after some time a strong impregnation, is very intoxicating. The authorities, not looking with much favour upon a wholesale brewing of grog in this way, sometimes use salt water as a deterrent, though even this ‘salt water bull’ as it is called, when again poured out, has often proved too attractive for seamen to resist. Again it is common to talk in the same way of ‘bulling a teapot,’ ‘coffee-pot,’ etc.; that is; after the first ‘brew’ has been exhausted, by adding fresh water, and boiling over again, to make a second brew from the old materials. This probably was derived from bulling the cask, but whether the bulling originally applied to the preserving the water-tight qualities of the cask, or to the making of the second brew is not quite certain. Taking, however, the present acceptation of the term, together with its probable derivation (see below), the latter would appear to be the case. [Thought to have its origin in French boullir, whence bouilloire, a tea-kettle; bouillon, a decoction of meat to which vegetables, salt and pepper have been added.] 1824. Cochrane, Narrative of a Pedestrian Journey through Russia and Siberian Tartary, p. 225. My liquor was at end from the effects of a very common sort of leak—it had been tapped too often. I could do nothing but bull the barrel, that is, put a little water into it, and so preserve at least the appearance of vookey. 1835. Marryat, Jacob Faithful, ch. xx. ‘Why, Jacob, a bull means putting a quart or two of water into a cask which has had spirits in it.’ 1887. G. R. Sims, How the Poor Live, p. 148. In these places, too, the lodgers divide their food frequently, and a man, seeing a neighbour without anything, will hand him his teapot, and say, ‘Here you are, mate; here’s a bull for you.’ A ‘bull’ is a teapot with the leaves left in for a second brew. Bull-Trap, subs. (American thieves’).—A personator of a police constable. Bully, subs. (old).—1. A ‘protector’ of a prostitute; a ‘fancy man.’ The name is often well applied, inasmuch as violence and swagger form the main staple of the stock-in-trade of such men in levying blackmail upon the victims enticed by their women companions. 1706. Defoe, Jure Divino, i., 8. Mars the celestial bully they adore, And Venus for an everlasting whore. French Synonyms. Poisson (familiar and popular: one who subsists on the gains of a prostitute, the latter being known as his marmite, i.e., ‘flesh-pot’; poisson signifies literally ‘a fish,’ and Michel says such a one was formerly known as poisson d’avril, a punning variation of maquereau [which see], mackerel being fit for food about that month. Poisson d’avril properly means a trick or fool’s errand; recevoir un poisson d’avril is to be made an April-fool); Alphonse (a French form of Alphonso, a ‘fancy name’ for a ‘fancy man.’ Cf., Adonis for a dandy. Alphonsisme is the calling of an Alphonse); baigne-dans-le-beurre (popular: another allusion to mackerel which is generally served with butter); barbise (popular); barbe (popular: lit. ‘beard’); barbille or barbillon (a young hand at the business); barbeau (popular: properly barbel, from L. L. barbellus, dim. from barbus, a barbel, i.e., the fish, from barba, a beard); marlou or marlousier (general: the second term is the oldest, and Michel derives it from marlier, formerly used in the sense of marguillier, signifying properly ‘churchwarden.’ Cf., Sacristain); benoît (popular); brochet (popular: properly this is ‘pike’ or ‘jack’); dos, dos vert, and dos d’azur (general: dos = back); casquette à trois ponts (popular: so called from a cap often worn by such persons); chevalier du bidet (bidet = pony; Cf., Omnibus); chevalier de la guiche (familiar); chiqueur de blanc (chiqueur = glutton, and blanc, a street-walker. Cf., mangeuse de viande crue); bouffeur de blanc (popular); costel (popular); cravate verte (popular); guiche (popular); dessous (thieves’: a man for whom ‘love’ is cherished by a prostitute); écaillé (literally ‘one with scales,’ like those of a fish—allusive of maquereau; fish, another reference to maquereau); foulard rouge (popular: lit. ‘red silk handkerchief’); gentilhomme sous marin (popular); ambassadeur (popular); gonce à écailles (gonce = man; à écailles = with scales, an allusion to maquereau); goujon (general: ? does this come from the Gascon gouie, whence comes gouge, a prostitute); lacromuche (popular); retrousseur (popular: retrousser properly means ‘to turn up,’ ‘to cock’); dauphin (popular: lit. dolphin); macchoux (popular); machabée (popular: lit. a corpse); mac or macque (popular; abbreviations of maquereau); macrottin (familiar); poisson frayeur (frayer [of fishes] signifies ‘to milt’); releveur de fumeuse (popular: Cf., relever le chandelier, i.e., to lift up the candlestick; from a practice of placing the fees of a prostitute under a candlestick); maquignon à bidoche (popular: maquignon is properly a ‘horsedealer,’ and bidoche = meat); mangeur de blanc (general: a devourer of prostitutes. Cf., chiqueur de blanc); tête de patère (popular); marloupatte, marloupin (see marlou); marquant (thieves’); mec (popular and thieves’); mec de la guiche (so called from his kiss-curls—des guiches = kiss-curls); monsieur à nageoires (lit. gentleman with fins); monsieur à rouflaquettes (popular: rouflaquettes = aggerawators, q.v.); neg en viande chaude (popular: neg is an abbreviation of négociant, i.e., merchant, dealer; viande chaude = hot meat); patenté (popular: patente is the name of a cap worn by the fraternity); porte-nageoires (see monsieur à nageoires); roi de la mer (popular: lit. king of the sea. Cf., maquereau, poisson, etc.); rouflaquette (Cf., monsieur à rouflaquettes); roule-en-cul, soixante-six (popular: insulting terms which might be translated by ‘pensioner,’ with an obscene prefix); un qui va aux épinards (popular: one who receives money from a prostitute, épinards = spinach. Cf., ‘to take one’s greens’); valet de cœur (popular: the lover of a prostitute); visqueux (properly this signifies ‘viscous,’ ‘slimy,’ ‘clammy’; the term is applied to the lowest type of bullies); bibi (popular); bras de fer (lit. ‘arm of iron’). 1729. Gay, Polly, Act ii., Sc. 7. Jimmy: Sure never was such insolence! how could you leave me with this bawdy-house bully? 1753. Adventurer, No. 100. I learned to pack cards and to cog a die; became a bully to whores. 1766. Goldsmith, Vicar of Wakefield, ch. xx. The lady was only a woman of the town, and the fellow her bully and a sharper. 1821. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act. ii., Sc. 4. M’L. Plaise your honour, I have brought before your worship a most notorious prostitute and common street walker, who, for her foul doings, has been cooped up in the Poultry Comptor, as often as there are years in a week.—I caught her charging these honest gentlemen (pointing to Tom and Jerry) in a most impositious manner, and when I civilly axed her, how she could think of getting drunk, and acting so, she called her bullies here. (Pointing to Kate and Sue.) 1883. A. Dobson, Fielding, p. 129. Probably a professed sabreur, if not a salaried bully like Captain Stab in the Rake’s Progress. 1887. Daily News, 15 July, 6, 5. It was not an uncommon thing for a prostitute to solicit a man, and if he refused her importunities, to call upon a ‘bully,’ and complain that she had been assaulted. 2. (Eton College.)—A melée at football; the equivalent of the Rugby ‘scrimmage’ and the Winchester ‘hot.’ It is where the majority of players play. 3. (nautical.)—A term of endearment in use amongst sailors. Equivalent to ‘pal,’ ‘mate,’ and similar terms. In this sense it has long been in use, Shakspeare often employing it. Probably hence arose the American and colonial adjectival use of the word in the sense of fine, ‘crack.’ 4. (American thieves’.)—A weapon formed by tying a stone or a piece of lead in a handkerchief. This is used knuckleduster fashion. Adj. (American).—Fine; capital; crack; ‘spiff.’ Applied to persons only, this adjective is traceable as far back as 1681; it seems, however, to have fallen into disuetude and to have been subsequently revived in a much more extended sense in the U.S.A., whence it has made the circuit of the English speaking world. Now applied to anything deserving of commendation, and used very much in the same way and with the same shades of meaning as ‘crack.’ English Synonyms. See A1. French Synonyms. In addition to those given under A1 may be mentioned the following:—muche; pas piqué des hannetons (popular: literally not bitten or stung by May-bugs or cockchafers). 1681. Chetham, Anglers’ Vade Mecum (1689), pref. From such bully fishers this book expects no other reception. 1855. Cairo City Times. The bully steamboat ‘Crystal Palace’ passed up to St. Louis on Monday. We have no doubt she left papers. 1870. Meade, New Zealand, p. 331. The roof fell in, there was a ‘bully’ blaze. 1875. N. Amer. Review, vol. CXX., p. 128. ‘That,’ replied Earney, ‘is Mercury, the god of merchants and thieves.’ ‘Good! that’s bully!’ exclaimed Tweed. 1880. Bret Harte, A Lonely Ride. ‘I thought you changed horses on the road?’ ‘So we did. Two hours ago.’ ‘That’s odd. I didn’t notice it.’ ‘Must have been asleep sir. Hope you had a pleasant nap. Bully place for a nice quiet snooze,—empty stage, sir!’ That’s bully for you, phr. (American).—Grand or fine; this phrase, during the Civil War, had a remarkably popular run. 1873. Justin McCarthy, Fair Saxon, ch. xix. ‘Darling boy! I had thought of this already.’ ‘Bully for you, mamma! Of course you did.’ Bully boy or bully boy with the glass eye, phr. (American).—A good fellow. 1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xxxiv. ‘Well said, my hearty captain!’ cried Glossin, endeavouring to catch the tone of revelry.... ‘That’s it, my bully boy! Why, you’re alive again now!—’ 1817. Scott, Rob Roy, ch. viii. ‘And you, Mr. Frank Osbaldistone, are not the first bully-boy that has said stand to a true man.’ 1869. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Innocents at Home, p. 20. You ought to seen him get started once. He was a bully boy with a glass eye. Bully-Back or Bully-Buck, subs. (old).—Thus described by Grose: A bully to a bawdy house, one who is kept in pay, to oblige the frequenters of the house to submit to the impositions of the mother abbess or bawd, and who also sometimes pretends to be the husband of one of the ladies, and under that pretence extorts money from greenhorns, or ignorant young men, whom he finds with her. Cf., Bully-boss. 1626. Amherst, Terræ Fil., xxxiii., 179. They have spirtual bravves on their side, and old lecherous bully-backs to revenge their cause. [M.] Bully Beef, subs. (military).—Tinned meat. Also called iron ration (q.v.). In the navy by bully-beef is meant boiled salt beef. [This may either be a corruption of bull beef or from the French bouilli, boiled meat.] 1883. Clark Russell, Sailors’ Language, pref., xii. Soup-and-bouilli is another standing sea dish, and, taking it all round, is the most disgusting of the provisions served out to the merchant sailor. I have known many a strong stomach, made food-proof by years of pork eaten with molasses, and biscuit alive with worms, to be utterly capsized by the mere smell of soup-and-bouilli. Jack calls it ‘soap and bullion, one onion to a gallon of water,’ and thus fairly expresses the character of the nauseous compound. 1887. Daily News, July 9, p. 6, col. 4. The rations will be of the kind known to Tommy Atkins as ‘bully beef.’ There may be in it a considerable proportion of mutton, but that makes no difference to him. Bully-Boss, subs. (American).—The landlord of a brothel or thieves’ den. [From bully, sense 1 (q.v.), + boss, a master.] Bully-Buck.—See Bully-back. Bully Cock, subs. (old).—1. See quot. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bully-cock, one who foments quarrels in order to rob the persons quarrelling. 2. subs. (old).—A low round hat with broad brim.—See Billy-cock. 3. (old.)—A man who sets other people by the ears, so that, while they quarrel, he may rob them with impunity. Bullyrag or Ballyrag, verb (colloquial).—To revile; abuse; scold vehemently—usually in vulgar or obscene language; also to swindle by means of intimidation. [The etymology is unknown.] French Synonyms. Arranger aux petits oignons; monter une gamme (popular: gamme = thrashing or ‘walloping’); habiller quelqu’un de taffetas (popular: i.e., to clothe anyone with fear; Cf., ‘clothed with shame’); agonir (popular: ‘to haul over the coals’; properly ‘to pull to pieces’); secouer les puces à quel-qu’un (popular: secouer = to shake; puces = fleas. Cf., ‘to send one away with a flea in the ear’). 1760. T. Warton, Oxford Newsman’s Verses. On Minden’s plains, ye meek Mounseers! Remember Kingsley’s grenadiers. You vainly thought to ballarag us, Like your fine squadron off Cape Lagos. 1861. Charles Lever, One of Them, p. 36. He bullyragged me. 1876. S. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Tom Sawyer, p. 118. I don’t want nothing better ’n this; I don’t git enough to eat gin’ally,—and here they can’t come and pick a feller and bullyrag him so. 1880. Jas. Greenwood, Maids in Waiting, in Odd People in Odd Places, p. 143. You should have heard the bullyragging I got, ma’am, from the mistress and the master as well, and I was turned out in the shameful way I’ve already explained to you, for doing what was no wrong at all, but only what me good-nature tempted me to. 1884. Jas. Payn, Talk of the Town, ch. v. He had never been ‘bally-ragged’ in his own house for ‘nothing’—except by his wife—before. Bullyragging, verb, subs. (colloquial).—Scolding; abuse; and sometimes swindling. [From bullyrag (q.v.) + ing.] For synonyms, see Wigging. 1863. H. Kingsley, Austin Elliot, ch. xviii. ‘It would be a good thing for she ... if she could bully Miss Eleanor into marrying Captain Hertford, and then that the pair on ’em should have the bullying and bally-ragging of nine thousand a year.’ 1880. Mrs. Parr, Adam and Eve, xxi., 292. There’ll be more set to the score o’ my coaxin’ than ever ‘all be to Adam’s bully-ragging.’ [M.] 1882. Daily Telegraph, Oct. 19, p. 3, col. 1. ‘And you should have heard the bully-ragging I got, ma’am, from the mistress and the master as well.’ Bully-Rook or Bully-Rock, subs. (old).—Originally this term seems to have been applied to a pleasant or boon-companion; later, however, to a swaggerer, a bully, a bravo. [Thought by most etymologists to be a combination of bully (q.v.) + rook (q.v.), a sharper.] 1596. Shakspeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, Act i., Sc. 3. Why says my bully-rook? 1633. Shirley, Wittie Faire One, Act iii., Sc. 4. Such in the spirit of sack, till we be delphic, and prophesy, my bully-rook. 1697. Praise of Yorkshire Ale. My bully-rocks, I’ve been experienced long In most of Liquors. [M.] 1754. B. Martin, Eng. Dict. (2 ed.). Bully, or bully-rock, 1. a boisterous, hectoring fellow. Bully Ruffian, subs. (old).—A footpad or highwayman, who, to the injury of robbery, added the insult of coarse invective. Cf., Bridle-cull. Bully Trap, subs. (old).—A man who, though of mild outside demeanour, is a match for any ruffian who may attack him. Quoted by Grose [1785]. Bully Up (Uppingham School), verb.—To hurry up. Mostly used in the imperative. Bum, subs. (vulgar).—1. The posteriors; or, as Jamieson puts it, ‘the part on which we sit.’ [Considerable doubt exists as to the origin of this familiar term. Murray thinks the guess that bum is an abbreviation of ‘bottom’ is at variance with the historical fact that the latter, in this sense, is found only from the eighteenth century; besides which there are phonetic difficulties. The origin is probably onomatopoetic.] Besides the synonyms mentioned under Blind cheeks, the following may be cited: English Synonyms. Bum-fiddle; bumpkin. French Synonyms. Le foiron (popular: from foire = diarrhœa); le tal (popular); le garde-manger (popular: Michel says this expression is an old one and is to be found in ‘Curiositez françoises’ in the sense of ‘a necessary house’); le naze (equivalent to ‘smeller,’ or ‘smelling cheat’); le soufflet (popular: literally ‘a pair of bellows’); le prouas (the same as le prose, of nautical origin); la contre-basse (popular: the ‘double bass.’ Cf., Ars musica); le schaffouse (popular: a play of words, the town of that name being situated on the Lower Rhine—chute du Rhein, and chute du rein, the lower part of the back); le gingin (popular); la tabatière (popular: literally ‘the snuff-box’); la tire-lire (popular: Rigaud says this term is in allusion to the means of subsistence [daily bread] of prostitutes); la giberne (literally ‘cartridge-box’); le proye (an old canting term); le cadet (popular); la figure (i.e., ‘the face.’ Cf., ‘cheeks’); la canonnière (literally ‘a drain pipe’ or ‘pop-gun’); l’oignon (literally ‘the onion’); la machine à moulures; le département du bas Rhin (‘the department of the Lower Rhine’; rein = back—a play upon words); le démoc; le schelingophone; le Prussien (from the Gypsy prusiatin̆i, translated by Borrow as ‘pistol’); le panier aux crottes (panier = basket; crottes = dung); le visage de campagne; le fignard (i.e., ‘a one-eyed cheek’); le visage sans nez (i.e., ‘the face without a nose’); le pétrouskin; le face du grand Turc; le tortillon; le fleurant (popular: also ‘a nose-gay’); le pedzouille (familiar: ‘a peasant’ or ‘clod’); le cadran or le cadran lunaise (cadran = dial); le piffe (thieves’); le médaillon (popular: literally ‘a medallion’ or ‘locket’); l’arrière-train (familiar: lit. ‘after-carriage’); le trèfle (popular: this also signifies ‘tobacco’); messire Luc (familiar: ‘Mr. Luke,’ sometimes also ‘Nancy.’ Cf., Mrs. Jones); le moulin à vent (lit. the ‘windmill’); le ponant (popular); la lune (popular: lune in slang means a large full face); le bienséant (popular); le pétard (popular and thieves’: it also stands for sou; in the Normandy patois pétra is used interchangeably with pétard); le ballon (popular: ballon = balloon; the analogy is obvious); le moutardier (i.e., the mustard-pot); le baril de moutarde (cads’: the mustard barrel); l’obusier (lit. the howitzer). German Synonyms. Tochas; Toges; Doges. Italian Synonym. Rioppo. 1387. Trevisa, Higden Rolls, 6 S., 357. It semeth that his bom is oute that hath that euel [ficus, i.e., piles]. [M.] 1592. Shakspeare, Mids. Night’s Dream, ii., 1, l. 51. The wisest aunt telling the saddest tale, Sometime for three-foot stool mistaketh me; Then slip I from her bum, down topples she, And tailor cries, and falls into a couch; And then the whole quire hold their hips, and loffe. 1600. Dekker, Shoemaker’s Holiday, in wks. (1873) I., 39. Art thou acquainted with neuer a fardingale-maker, nor a French-hood maker, I must enlarge my bumme. 1609. Shakspeare, Timon of Athens, Act i., Sc. 2. What a coil’s here! Serving of becks, and jutting out of bums! 1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, iv., 4. Your breeches sit close enough to your bum. 1729. Swift, Intelligencer, No. 8, p. 83 (2 ed.). And first his bum you see him clap Upon the Queen of Sheba’s lap. 1742. Shenstone, Schoolmistress, st. 18. All, but the wight of bum y-galled, he Abhors both bench, and stool, and fourm, and chair. 1782. Wolcot, Lyric Odes, No. i., in wks. (1809) I., 12. That lazy bum-delighting thing, Ridly the Chancellor. 2. (old.)—An abbreviated form Of bum bailiff (q.v.). 1663. Butler, Hudibras, I., i., 393. It had appeared with courage bolder, Then Sergeant Bum, invading shoulder. 1698–1700. Ward, London Spy, pt. VII., p. 153. The Vermin of the Law, the Bum, Who gladly kept his distance, Does safely now in Triumph come. 1845. Disraeli, Sybil, bk. III., ch. i. ‘Juggings has got his rent to pay, and is afeard of the bums.’ 3. (public schools’.)—A birching; ‘hiding’ or ‘tanning.’ For synonyms, see Tanning. Cf., also Bash and Baste. Verb (old).—To arrest. [An obvious allusion to the duty of a bum or bum-bailiff (q.v.).] Cherry Bums, subs. (military).—The 11th Hussars. Cherry-bum is a corruption of Cherubim; but the obvious reference is to the scarlet trowsers worn by this branch of the service. A similar nickname is given to the French Chasseurs—Culs rouges.—See Cherubim. To toe one’s bum, phr. (low).—An implied threat of physical castigation, rarely, however, carried out literally; to put or ‘chuck’ out; to show the door to—either will explain the meaning. Sometimes the phrase occurs as ‘to hoof one’s bum.’ French Synonyms. Sauter sur la contrebasse (popular); filer un coup de trottinet dans l’oignon (thieves’); boucher la lumière (popular: properly ‘to stuff up the touch-hole’); enlever le ballon à quelqu’un (popular: the allusion is to raising an air balloon with the foot); donner un coup de pied juste au bon endroit (popular: ‘to give a kick just in the right part’); botter (popular: literally ‘to make’ or ‘supply anyone with boots’); détacher un coup de pinceau dans la giberne (popular: coup de pinceau = ‘a kick,’ or ‘a blow with the foot’; giberne = cartridge-box or, in slang, the breech); crever un œil à quelqu’un (popular: ‘to stave in one’s eye.’ Cf., Cyclops); graisser le train derrière (i.e., ‘to grease the hinder carriage.’ Cf., Eng. Basting); détruire le faubourg à quelqu’un (popular: properly faubourg = suburb or outskirt); enlever le schelingophone à quelqu’un (popular). Bum Bags, subs. (popular).—Trowsers. [From bum, the posteriors, + bags (q.v.).] Bum Bailiff, also Bum Baily, subs. (old).—An opprobrious name for a bailiff or sheriff’s officer. Frequently contracted into bum or bummy. [Thought to be derived from bum (q.v.), an allusion to the proximity of such gentry to debtors’ backs, + bailiff; there is no reason to suppose, as suggested, that the term is a corruption of bound-bailiff. The French have pousse cul, and it is curious that this term is also, in common use, abbreviated to cul, answering to the English contraction, bum.] 1602. Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Act iii., Sc. 4. Sir Jo. Go, Sir Andrew; scout me for him at the corner of the orchard like a bum-baily. 1628. H. Shirley, Martyr’d Souldier, Act v. I was first a Varlet, then a Bum-baily, now an under Jailor. 1761. Dr. Hawkesworth, Edgar and Emmeline, ii., 1. By the heavens! she has the gripe of a bum-bailiff. 1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xvii. ‘We are in right opposition to sign and seal, writ and warrant, serjeant and tipstaff, catch-poll and bum-bailey.’ 1869. Mrs. H. Wood, Roland Yorke, ch. xxxii. ‘You know the state we were in all the summer: Gerald next to penniless, and going about in fear of the bum-bailies.’ Bum Bass, subs. (old).—Explained by quot. 1809. S. Pegge, Anonymiana, p. 415 (ed. 1809). The humble-bee ought rather, perhaps, to be called the bumble-bee as it is in some parts, from the deepness of the note, just as the violoncello is called by the vulgar a bum-bass. Bumble, subs. (common).—A beadle. [This term originated in the name of the beadle in Dickens’ Oliver Twist, although it may be noted that in the seventeenth century bumble signified a confusion, a jumble. Hence bumbler, an idle fellow, or blunderer. A French equivalent is chasse-coquin (literally a beggar driver). Cf., Bumble-crew and Bumbledom.] 1883. Punch, August 4, p. 51, col. 1. A helpless ‘nuisance’ shunned by the Inspector, Ignored by bumbles and by Boards of Works. Bumble-Crew, subs. (popular).—A collective name for corporations, vestries, and other official bodies. [From bumble (q.v.) + crew.]—See Bumbledom. Bumbledom, subs. (popular).—A term applied to the spirit of collective petty officialism; red tape fussiness and pomposity. [From bumble (q.v.) + dom.] 1856. Saturday Review, II., p. 12, col. 1. The collective Bumbledom of Westminster. [M.] 1884. Daily News, Dec. 27, p. 6, col. 1. Our scheme is unfolded to the chief officer—not the slightest trace of bumbledom about him—a kind-hearted, genial, happy-faced individual. Bumble Puppy, subs. (popular).—Family whist, i.e., ‘unscientific’ whist. Also applied, says Hotten, to a game played in public houses on a large stone, placed in a slanting direction, on the lower end of which holes are made, and numbered like the holes in a bagatelle-table. The player rolls a stone ball, or marble, from the higher end, and according to the number of the hole it falls into the game is counted. It is undoubtedly the very ancient game of Troule-in-madame. 1886. Daily News, Dec. 25, p. 5, col. 2. Christmas cards, and mince-pies, and another helping of turkey, and family whist, or bumble puppy. Bumbles, subs. (general).—Coverings for the eyes of horses that shy in harness. Cf., Blinkers. Bumbo, subs. (West Indian.)—1. The female pudenda; a term applied by negroes. For synonyms, see Monosyllable. 2. (old.)—Smollett, in a note to the first quotation as follows, says bumbo was a liquor composed of ‘rum, sugar, water, and nutmeg.’ Grose gives it as ‘brandy, water, and sugar’—the component parts seem to vary according to taste. 1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. xxxiv. Who were making merry in the ward-room, round a table well stored with bumbo and wine. 1756. Diary of a Sussex Tradesman, in Sussex Arch. Coll., IX., 188, quoted in N. and Q., 7 S., i., 194. 1756, April 28. I went down to Jones’, where we drank one bowl of punch and two muggs of bumboo, and I came home again in liquor. 1882. Northumbrian Minstrelsy, etc., p. 113, quoted in N. and Q., 7 S., i., 195. The pitmen and the keelmen trim, They drink bumbo made of gin. Bum-Brusher, subs. (schoolboys’).—A schoolmaster; also applied to an usher. [From bum, the posteriors, + brusher, in allusion to the office a schoolmaster is sometimes called upon to perform by way of punishment.] English Synonyms. Flaybottom; haberdasher of pronouns. French Synonyms. Un marchand de soupe (marchand = merchant; soupe = soup); un chien de cour (i.e., ‘a watch-dog’); un fouette-cul (a literal translation of bum-brusher). 1704. T. Brown, wks. (1760) II., 86. [Dionysius] was forced to turn bum-brusher. 1788. New London Magazine, p. 137. A successor was immediately called from that great nursery of bum-brushers, Appleby School. 1832. Blackwood’s Mag., Oct., p. 426. To protract existence ... in the shape of bum-brushers, and so forth, after the fashion of the exalted emigrés of 1792? 1838. Comic Almanac, Dec. [School-master’s Letter signed] Barnabas Bom-brush. Bum Charter, subs. (thieves’).—Explained by quot. 1819. J. H. Vaux, Memoirs. Bum-charter is the name given to bread steeped in hot water by the first unfortunate inhabitants of the English Bastile, where this miserable fare was their daily breakfast, each man receiving with his scanty portion of bread a quart of boiled water from the Cook’s Coppers. Bumclink, subs. (provincial).—In the Midland counties the inferior beer brewed for hay-makers and harvest labourers. [Derivation obvious.] For synonyms, see Swipes. Bum Curtain, subs. (Cambridge Univ.).—1. An academical gown when worn scant and short; especially applied to the short black gown worn till 1835 by members of Caius College. Cf., Bum-perisher. 1835. (Quoted in Whibley’s Three Centuries of Cambridge Wit [1889].) ’Tis the College of Caius—’tis the land where the ‘Bum Curtain’ lately was sported by each jolly chum, But now black and blue are the gowns that they wear Like the eye of a drunkard returned from a fair. Bumf, subs. (schooboys’).—Paper. [An abbreviation of bum-fodder (q.v.), an obvious allusion to toilet paper.] Bumfhunt, subs. (Wellington College).—A paper-chase. [Derived from the popular schoolboy name for paper, i.e., bumf (q.v.).] Bum Fiddle, subs. (old).—The posteriors. For synonyms, see Blind cheeks and Bum. Bum Fidget, subs. (old).—A restless individual. [Obviously from bum, the posterior, + fidget, i.e., one who cannot sit still.] Bum Fodder, subs. (old).—1. Low class worthless literature; a term once in literary use.—See sense 2. 1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, I., xiii. Torche-culs, arsewisps, bum fodders. 1753. Scots’ Magazine, April, p. 208, col. 1 (title). Bum fodder for the ladies. [M.] 2. (low.)—Toilet paper, otherwise known as curl paper (q.v.). Cf. Bumf. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bum fodder, soft paper for the necessary house, or torche-cul. Bummaree, subs. (common).—A Billingsgate middle-man. These men, who are not recognised as regular salesmen by the trade, are speculative buyers of large quantities of fish, which they re-sell in smaller lots. [The origin of the name is unknown, though some have speculated that it may be from the French bon marée; others, however, think that it is akin to bomerie, a French word for what in England is known as ‘bottomry,’ i.e., the act of borrowing money and pledging the bottom of the ship, i.e., the ship itself, for the re-payment of the money. It is argued that the leading idea in thus borrowing money on a ship’s keel is the hazarding all on a single venture: hence possibly its application to other transactions, especially those connected with the sea; such as wholesale purchases of fish, in which a large risk is run with an uncertain prospect of return—which is, it must be confessed, a somewhat far-fetched derivation.] This wholesale retailing of fish is also called bummareeing it. 1786. Report of Committee of City of London on Price of Provisions, 31. The bomarees will buy up half the fish the Salesmen have, and sell to the Fishmongers. [M.] 1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, I., 71. In Billingsgate the ‘forestallers’ or middle men are known as bummarees.... The bummaree is the jobber or speculator on the fish exchange. 1859. Sala, Twice Round the Clock, 4 a.m., p. 17. Any one can be a bumbaree.... The process of bumbareeing is very simple. It consists in buying as largely as your means will afford of an auctioneer, hiring a stall for sixpence, and retailing the fish at a swingeing profit. Bummed, ppl. adj. (old).—Arrested. Cf. verb, Bum and Bum-bailiff. Bummer, subs. (old.)—1. A bum-bailiff (q.v.). 2. (turf.)—A heavy loss; a severe pecuniary reverse. 3. (American.)—An idler; loafer; sponger; looter (see quots.). [From the German bummler, with a somewhat similar meaning, save that the term is used good naturedly, and has not altogether the offensive meaning of the American equivalent.] The term came into general use at the time of the Civil War, when it was specially applied to a straggler, hanger-on, or free-lance, particularly in connection with General Sherman’s famous march from Atlanta to the sea. Besides its political signification, bummer is used as a general term of reproach in the same way as rascal, blackleg, etc., are used in England. Other equivalents are heeler, striker, stuffer, and practical politician. a. 1865. Major Nichols, Sherman’s Great March. Look hyar, Captain, we bummers ain’t so bad after all. We keep ahead of the skirmish line allers; we let’s ’em know when an enemy’s a comin’, and then we ain’t allus away from the regiment. We turns over all we don’t want ourselves, and we can lick five times as many Rebs as we are any day. 1872. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Roughing It, ch. xxiv. The auctioneer stormed up and down the streets on him for four days, dispersing the populace, interrupting business, and destroying children, and never got a bid—at least never any but the eighteen-dollar one he hired, a notoriously substanceless bummer, to make. The people only smiled pleasantly, and restrained their desire to buy, if they had any. 1872. Sacramento Weekly Union, Feb. 24, p. 2. All the boys to be trained as scriveners, tape-measurers, counter-hoppers, clerks, pettifoggers, polite loafers, street-hounds, hoodlums, and bummers. 1875. Scribner’s Magazine, p. 274. San Francisco is the Elysium of bummers. Nowhere can a worthless fellow, too lazy to work, too cowardly to steal, get on so well. The climate befriends him, for he can sleep out of doors four-fifths of the year. He can gorge himself daily for a nominal sum, and get a dinner that a king might envy for fifty cents. 1877. W. Black, Green Past. and Picc., ch. xiii. Then the great crowd of bummers and loafers, not finding the soil teeming with nuggets, stampeded off like a herd of buffalo. 1888. Philadelphia Press, Jan. 29. Coy is the chairman of the Democratic Central Committee in Marion County, and has wielded great power in politics as the boss of the bummers. 1888. Detroit Free Press, May 16. He finds that ten per cent. of the men who patronise these places have a collegiate education; forty per cent. are self-supporting, but prefer this precarious mode of living to anything more respectable; ten per cent. earn excellent wages, and twenty per cent. are chronic bums, who beg or steal the price of their lodgings. Hence bummerism, to express habits of loafing and petty stealing, and bummerish (adj.). Bumming, verb, subs. (Wellington College).—A thrashing, or licking. Cf., Bum, sense 1. Bump, subs. (University).—When one boat touches another in a race it is said to ‘make a bump,’ and technically beats its opponent. Cf., verbal sense, and Bumping race. Verb.—To overtake and touch an opposing boat, thus winning the heat or race. 1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. iii. He listened, and with respect too, to Mr. Foker’s accounts of what the men did at the University of which Mr. F. was an ornament, and encountered a long series of stories about boat-racing, bumping, College grass-plats, and milk-punch. 1860. Macmillan’s Magazine, March, p. 331. The chances of St. Ambrose’s making a bump the first night were weighed. 1865. Sketches from Cambridge, p. 7. I can still condescend to give our boat a stout when it makes a bump. 1886–7. Dickens, Dictionary of Cambridge, p. 11. Any boat which overtakes and bumps another ... before the winning post is reached, changes place with it for the next race. Bumper, subs. (common).—1. Anything of superlative size, whether a ‘big lie,’ horse, house, or woman. Cf., Corker, Whopper, and Thumper. 2. (theatrical).—A full or crowded house. 1838. Dickens, Nich. Nickleby, ch. xxiv., p. 192. ‘In the confidence that our fellow-towsmen have not lost that high appreciation of public utility and private worth, for which they have long been so pre-eminently distinguished, we predict that this charming actress will be greeted with a bumper.’ 3. (cards’.)—When, in long whist, one side has scored eight before the other has scored a point, a bumper is the result. Bum-Perisher, Bum-Shaver, subs. (common).—A short-tailed coat; a jacket. [From bum, the posteriors, + perisher, a slang variant of that which ‘perishes,’ or fails to protect (from cold, etc.).] Cf., Bum curtain. Bumping Race, subs. (University).—Eight-oared inter-Collegiate races, rowed in two divisions of fifteen and sixteen boats respectively, including a sandwich boat (q.v.), i.e., the top boat of the second division, which rows bottom of the first. The boats in each division start at a distance apart of 175 feet from stern to stern in the order at which they left off at the last preceding race, and any boat which overtakes, and bumps another (i.e., touches it in any part) before the winning post is reached, changes place with it for the next race. Bumpkin, subs. (old).—A humorous term for the posteriors. 1658. [In Nares] Wit Restored. And so I take my leave; prithee, sweet Thumkin, Hold up thy coats, that I may kisse thy bumkin. Bump-Supper, subs. (University).—A supper to commemorate the fact of the boat of the college having, in the annual races, ‘bumped’ or touched the boat of another college immediately in front. Cf., Bumping race. Bumptious, adj. (colloquial).—Arrogant; self-sufficient; on good terms with oneself. [Murray puts this down as a formation from bump on the model of ‘fractious.’ It is of recent introduction.] 1803. Mad. D’Arblay, Diary and Letters, vi., 324. No, my dearest Padre, bumptious! no, I deny the charge in toto. [M.] 1849. Dickens, D. Copperfield, ch. vi., p. 53 (C.D.). I heard that Mr. Sharp’s wig didn’t fit him, and that he needn’t be so ‘bounceable’—somebody else said ‘bumptious’—about it, because his own red hair was very plainly to be seen behind. 1883. Hawley Smart, Hard Lines, ch. xiii. It was all very well while he was fresh, and having things pretty much as he liked. So long he was bumptious enough. Bumptiousness, subs. (colloquial).—Self-assertiveness; arrogance; self-conceit. [From bumptious (q.v.) + ness.] 1865. Sala, Trip to Barbary, p. 150. Poor Albert Smith, than whom, with all his occasional bumptiousness, an honester and more clear-sighted hater of snobbery and shams never lived. Bum Roll, subs. (old).—A pad or cushion worn by women to extend the dress at the back—an equivalent of the modern bustle or dress-improver. [From bum, the posteriors, + roll, in the sense of pad or cushion.] At one time these were called cork rumps, but for synonyms, see Bird-cage. 1601. Ben Jonson, The Poetaster, II., i. Nor you nor your house was so much as spoken of, before I disbased myself from my hood and my farthingal, to these bum-rowls, and your whale-bone bodice. 1663. Killigrew, Parson’s Wedding, Old Plays, XI., 460. Those worthies [of a bawd] rais’d her from the flat petticoat and kercher, to the gorget and bum-roll. Bumsquabbled, ppl. adj. (American).—Discomfitted; defeated; stupified. Cf., Bum-fiddled, in first quot. 1620. Fletcher, The Chances, I., v. And am I now bum-fiddled with a bastard? 1835–40. Haliburton, The Clockmaker, p. 251 (ed. 1862). No sooner said than done, Mount Sheer Bullfrog gave the case in our favour in two twos, said Eyetaliano had got too much already, cut him off the other two-thirds, and made him pay all costs. If he didn’t look bumsquabbled it’s a pity. Bum Sucker, subs. (general).—A sponger; toady; lick-spittle; hanger-on. [From bum + sucker, allusion obvious.] Cf., Bum. A French equivalent is une lèche-cul. Bum Trap, subs. (old).—A bailiff. Cf., Bum-bailiff. 1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. VII., ch. iii. The noble bum-trap, blind and deaf to every circumstance of distress, greatly rises above all the motives to humanity, and into the hands of the jailor resolves to deliver his miserable prey. Bun, subs. (American).—1. A sponger; one who cannot be shaken off. 2. (common).—The female pudenda. For synonyms, see Monosyllable. To take or yank the bun, verbal phr. (general).—To take first place; to obtain first honours. A variant of take the cake.—See Cake. The French say décrocher la timballe. Bunce, Bunse or Bunt, subs. (old).—Originally money, a signification which it still retains; more generally, however, profit, gain, anything to the good. [Thought to be a corruption of bonus.]—See quot., 1851. For synonyms in the sense of money, see Actual. 1719. D’Urfey, Pills, 278. If cards come no better. Oh! oh! I shall lose all my buns. [M.] 1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 37. There are still other ‘agents’ among the costermongers, and these are the ‘boys’ deputed to sell a man’s goods for a certain sum, all over that amount being the boys’ profit or bunts. Ibid., p. 526. There are a great number of boys ... engaged by costermongers or small tradesmen, to sell upon commission, or, as it is termed, for bunse (probably a corruption of bonus, bone being the slang for good).... The mode is this: a certain quantity of saleable commodities is given to a boy whom a costermonger knows and perhaps employs, and it is arranged that the young commission-agent is to get a particular sum for them, which must be paid to the costermonger; I will say 3s. For these articles the lad may ask and obtain any price he can, and whatever he obtains beyond the stipulated 3s., is his own profit or bunse. Ib., p. 36. But you see the boys will try it on for their bunts. 1881. A Chequered Career, p. 270. In the stable, and particularly in livery-stables, there is a box into which all tips are placed. This is called bunt. Buncer, subs. (common).—One who sells on commission, as described under bunce (q.v.). Bunch of Fives, subs. (common).—The hand or fist. [An obvious allusion to the five fingers gathered or bunched together on the hand.] 1847. Lytton, Lucretia, pt. II., ch. vii. ‘Is this a h-arm, and this a bunch of fives?’ 1863. C. Reade, Hard Cash, ch. xxxiv. ‘Now look at that bunch of fives,’ continued the master; and laid a hand, white and soft as a duchess’s, on the table. 1882. Punch, vol. LXXXII., p. 133, col. 1. He smote crashingly down ... with a lead-weighted truncheon he held in his dexter bunch of fives. 1888. Daily Telegraph, April 30, p. 3, col. 2. The fingers are bent into such an ungraceful bunch of fives, as to be suggestive both of chalkstones and of sausages. English Synonyms. Mauley; cornstealer; fam or fem (this is said to be of Gypsy origin, and to mean five, i.e., five fingers, but see Fehm in German synonyms); famble (see preceding); picker; goll (a seventeenth century term—‘make them hold up their spread golls,’ says Ben Jonson, in the Poetaster); fin; daddle; flipper. German Synonyms. Fehm or Vehm, or Vehn (more correctly Fem. This appears to be the same word as the English seventeenth century colloquialism for the hand [see preceding], and is most likely derived from the Swedish and Danish fem = five, than from the Gypsy which indeed contains no such word); Griffling or Greifling (from greifen, to seize); Jad (Hebrew jad, the hand); Kaf (from the Hebrew kaph; the [hollow] hand). Italian Synonyms. Tarantola (an allusion to the many tentacles and close grip of the tarantula spider); cerra; calchi dell’ ala (literally the foot of the arm. Cf., French doigts du pied); grettina (properly a small sandbank). Spanish Synonyms. Labradora (this, it is curious to note, is an obsolete Spanish term signifying literally a laborious or hard-working woman, and the inference from this fact is obvious); anclas (literally anchors). Bunco or Bunco Game, subs. (American).—A swindling game played either with cards or dice, not unlike three card monté. [From the Italian banco, a bench or bank]. 1883. Philadelphia Times, No. 289, 2. 2. Tom’s method of bunco was the well-known lottery game. [M.] 1888. Daily Inter-Ocean, Feb. 2. Robert B. Barnet, a plumber doing business in Grant Street, this city, was arrested in Allegheny to-night, on the charge of being implicated in the recent bunco game in which William Murdoch, an old and prominent citizen, was robbed of 10,000 dols. Verb.—1. To rob, cheat, or swindle by means of the bunco game; or by what in England is known as the confidence trick, etc. 1887. Cincinnati Enquirer. Detectives Kirby and Funk last night spotted J. P. Ramby, the person accused of having bunkoed Ex-County Commissioner Stephens, of Greene County, out of 2,300 dols. in Xenia recently. 1888. Chicago Daily Inter-Ocean, April 14. John Brothers, a farmer living near Canton, Ohio, was bunkoed out of 2,000 dols. to-day by two sharpers who escaped. 2. From the primary meaning, the verb to bunco has come to be synonymous with any attempt at swindling. So also with various derivatives, bunco-case, bunco-man, bunco-steerer (q.v.). Bunco-Steerer, Bunko-Steerer, subs. (American).—A swindler; confidence-trick man. The means these men adopt to win confidence are always varied and sometimes unique. They are extremely wary, and it is oftentimes with considerable difficulty that the arm of the law, long as it is assumed to be, can lay hold of them. A bunco-steerer may be well known to the police as a professional swindler, and he may be seen talking to his intended victim, but, unless caught in an overt act, he cannot be interfered with. People whom bunco-steerers lay their snares for, are generally men who stand high in their communities; consequently it is almost impossible to get victims to become complainants, as they do not care to figure in the police courts, and the thieves get practically a free field for their operations. 1876. Besant and Rice, Golden Butterfly, p. 235. The bunco-steerer ... will find you out the morning after you land in Chicago or St. Louis. He will accost you—very friendly, wonderful friendly—when you come out of your hotel, by your name, and he will remind you—which is most surprising, considerin’ you never set eyes on his face before—how you have dined together in Cincinnati, or it may be Orleans, or perhaps Francisco, because he finds out where you came from last; and he will shake hands with you; and he will propose a drink; and he will pay for that drink; and presently he will take you somewhere else, among his pals, and he will strip you so clean, that there won’t be left the price of a four-cent paper to throw around your face and hide your blushes. In London ... they do the confidence trick. 1888. Daily Inter-Ocean, Feb. 14. Andrew Carnegie fell into the hands of a bunco-steerer in Pittsburg, Saturday night, but was rescued by a detective before he lost anything. Bundle, verb (old).—To practise bundling (q.v.). 1781. S. Peters, Gen. Hist. Connecticut. It is thought but a piece of civility to ask [a lady] to bundle. 1797. Sewell. Queeston is an odd way of wooing usual in some sea towns or Isles of Holland, after this manner. When the wench is gone to bed, the fellow enters the room and lays himself down in his clothes upon the blankets, next unto her, with one window of the room open, and thus he talks with her, very innocently—as it is reported. 1809. W. Irving, Knickerbocker History of New York. Van Corlear stopped occasionally in the villages to ... dance at country frolics, and bundle with the Yankee lasses. 1871. Schele De Vere, Americanisms, p. 448. To bundle, a custom still prevalent in Wales, and not unfrequently practised in the West, of men and women sleeping with all their clothes on, when there is not house-room to provide better accommodation. Bundling or Bundling Up, subs. (old).—A custom now obsolete, but formerly in vogue where bed accommodation was scarce, of men and women sleeping on the same bed together without having removed their clothes. The practice is mentioned by Wright as having been customary in Wales, and it will be remembered that Washington Irving alludes to it in his Knickerbocker History of New York. Whatever may have been the case in former times, it does not appear to be a habit either in the Mother Country or the New World at the present day, even in the districts most remote from civilization. No question of immodesty seems to have attached to the custom; indeed, attempts were made to prove that bundling was very right and proper. On this point, however, opinions will vary considerably. Also used in verbal form to bundle. Cf., Caulk. 1809. W. Irving, Knickerbocker History of New York. Among other hideous customs they [the Yankees] attempted to introduce that of bundling, which the Dutch lasses of the Nederlandts, with their eager passion for novelty and for the fashions, natural to their sex, seemed very well inclined to follow, but that their mothers, being more experienced in the world and better acquainted with men and things, discountenanced all such outlandish innovations. 1814. Quarterly Review, X., 517. [The custom spoken of in.] 1842. C. Masson, Journal Balochistan, etc., III., 287. Many of the Afghan tribes have a custom in wooing, similar to what in Wales is known as bundling-up. 1868. W. H. Dixon, Spiritual Wives, vol. II., p. 31. An old custom, which exists (I believe) in Wales as well as in parts of Pennsylvania and New England, permits under the name of ‘bundling,’ certain free, but still innocent endearments to pass between lovers who are engaged. 1871. H. R. Styles, Bundling; its Origin, Progress, and Decline in America, title. [Contains also its history in England, Wales, Holland, curious songs, etc.] 1878. C. Wake, Evol. Moral., I., 401. The custom of bundling ... among Celtic peoples. [M.] Bung, Bong, Boung, subs. (old cant.)—1. A purse. [One of the oldest cant terms in the language, the origin of which is entirely unknown, though, says Murray, ‘its resemblance to the O.E. pung, “a purse,” is worth notice.’] Also called skin or poge (q.v.). A French thieves’ term is la plotte. 1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 65. Boung, a purse. Ibid., p. 86. 1591. Greene, Second Part Conny-catching, in wks., vol. X., p. 96. The Nip vseth his knife, and if he see a Boung lie faire, strikes the stroke. 1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 37 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874). Bung is now vsed for a pocket, heretofore for a purse. c. 1658. Cleveland, Cleivelandi Vindiciæ, p. 99 (ed. 1677). He is in the Inquisition of the Purse an Authentick Gypsie, that nips your Bung with a canting Ordinance. 1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 47. Boung, a Purse. 1706. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Bung, a purse. 2. (old.)—A pickpocket. Cf., Bung, sense 1. Bung-nipper (q.v.) was in general usage later. 1598. Shakspeare, King Henry IV., ii., 4. Doll. Away, you cut-purse rascal! you filthy bung, away! By this wine, I’ll thrust my knife in your mouldy chaps, an’ you play the saucy cuttle with me. 1658. An Age for Apes, p. 232. My bung observing this, takes hold of time, Just as this lord was drawing for a prime, And smoothly rims his purse that lay beside him. 3. (common.)—A brewer; landlord of a public house, etc. [An allusion to the bungs, or large corks used in the ‘mouths’ of beer barrels.] 1863. Cornhill Magazine (The Inner Life of a Man-of-War), Feb. From time immemorial these gentlemen [master’s assistants] have had to stand at the grog-butt and see the grog served out—an important duty, the discharge of which has invested them, such is the playfulness of naval humour, with the title of bungs. 1884. Graphic, Feb. 23, p. 170, col. 1. That Sir Wilfrid Lawson had turned bung, and applied for a spirit licence. Verb (pugilistic).—1. Generally bung up, i.e., to close or shut up the eyes by means of a blow that causes a swelling. Formerly used of the mouth, ears, etc., and in literary use, but now regarded as a vulgarism. Cf. verb, sense 2. 1593. G. Harvey, Pierces Super., in wks. (Grosart) II., 128. That will bung-up their mouthes with a Collyrium of all the stale iestes in a country. 1599. Nashe, Lenten Stuffe, in wks. V., 247. The waies beyond sea were so bungd vp with your dayly oratours or Beadsmen and your crutchet or crout-chant friers ... that a snaile coulde not wriggle in her homes betwixt them. 1835. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 1 S., ch. xix. ‘I bunged up both eyes for him.’ 2. (old.)—To give; pass; hand over; drink; or to perform almost any action. ‘Bung over the rag,’ hand over the money. Used by Beaumont and Fletcher, and Shakspeare. Also, to deceive one by a lie, to Cram, which see. Bungay. Go to Bungay! phr. (general).—A euphemistic objurgation equivalent to consignment to a region the climate of which is tropical in character. For analogous phrases, see Go to hell. Bung-Eyed, comp. ppl. adj. (common).—1. Drunk; fuddled; Screwed, which see for synonyms. [Derivation uncertain: possibly from the Scotch ‘bung,’ a low word quoted by Jamieson as meaning tipsy or fuddled, with perhaps an indirect allusion to the bunged or crooked distorted eye, the result of a fight or squabble.—See sense 2.] 1858. A. Mayhew, Paved with Gold, bk. III., ch. iii., p. 268. One coarse-featured fellow, who was nearly bung-eyed over his beer (as they call being drunk). 2. Cross-eyed; unable to see straight; ‘boss-eyed’ or ‘squinny-eyed’ (q.v.). Bungfunger, verb (American).—To startle; to confuse. Compare with bumbsquabbled. Also used as an adjective for ‘confounded.’ 1835–40. Haliburton, The Clockmaker, p. 91 (ed. 1862). ‘Well, father, I thought he’d a fainted too, he was so struck up all of a heap; he was completely bung-fungered.’ Bung-Juice, subs. (thieves’).—Porter, or beer. [From bung, a stopper for casks in which beer is kept, + juice. Cf., Cow-juice for milk, etc.] For synonyms, see Drinks and Swipes. Bung Knife or Boung Knife, subs. (old).—Considerable uncertainty exists as to the nature or use of this implement. It has however been conjectured that as boung was an old cant word for a purse, that boung knife may therefore have been a knife kept in the purse or girdle, but concerning this nothing definite can be stated. 1592. Greene, Quip for Upstart Courtier (Hart. Misc., V., 407). One of them had on ... a skeine like a bruer’s boung-knife. Bung Nipper or Boung Nipper, subs. (old).—A cut-purse; a sharper. [From bung (q.v.), an old canting term for a purse, + nipper, a thief, i.e., one who nips or steals.] In French, to nip a bung is couper une queue de rat, i.e., literally to cut off a rat’s tail; but for synonyms, see Area-sneak and Thieves. Bung Upwards, adv. phr. (old).—Said of a person lying on his face. Bunk, subs. (common).—Hasty departure. Cf., Bunk, verb. [Of unknown derivation.] c. 1870. Broadside Ballad, ‘Peck’s Bad Boy.’ Of course you’re heard of Peck’s bad boy, that dreadful Yankee lad, Who’s bothered his poor parents so they’ve both gone raving mad, He put a pound of old Scotch snuff into poor Buddha’s trunk, The keeper tried to catch him, but the bad boy did a bunk. Verb (common).—1. To be off; to decamp. For synonyms, see Amputate. c. 1872. Broadside Ballad, ‘Oh, we are a getting on.’ A stocking used a ‘bank’ to be, In the good old days of old, They didn’t run such risks as we Do now of getting sold. No sooner does a bank go queer, You hear the same old strain, There’s another bald-headed Manageer, Has bunked across to Spain. 1885. Referee, Feb. 16, p. 7, col. 3. It was just such a parcel, bless him! he’d clasped to his noble breast, And bunked with out o’ the building. 1887. Fun, 9 Nov., p. 201. ‘What is a vanishing point?’ said the schoolmaster to little Billy. ‘The corner you bunks round when the “slops” after yer,’ warbled the golden-haired child. 2. (Wellington College.)—To expel [from the school]. Bunker, subs. (common).—Beer. For synonyms, see Drinks and Swipes. Bunkum, Buncombe, Buncome, subs. (American).—Talking merely for talking’s sake; claptrap of all kinds; gas; tall talk. The employment of the word in its original sense of insincere political speaking or claptrap is ascribed to a member of Congress, Felix Walker, from Buncombe County, North Carolina, who explained that he was merely talking for buncombe, when his fellow members could not understand why he was making a speech. Judge Haliburton (Sam Slick) in explaining this word says that ‘all over America, every place likes to hear of its member of Congress, and see their speeches; and, if they don’t, they send a piece to the paper, inquirin’ if their members died a natural death, or was skivered with a bowie-knife, for they hante seen his speeches lately, and his friends are anxious to know his fate. Our free and enlightened citizens don’t approbate silent members; it don’t seem to them as if Squashville, or Punkinsville, or Lumbertown was right represented, unless Squashville, or Punkinsville, or Lumbertown makes itself heard and known, ay, and feared too. So every feller, in bounden duty, talks, and talks big too, and the smaller the State, the louder, bigger, and fiercer its members talk. Well, when a critter talks for talk’s sake, jist to have a speech in the paper to send to home, and not for any other airthly puppus but electioneering, our folks call it bunkum.’ The term is now universal on both sides of the water, and, indeed, wherever English is spoken. So much is this the case that the expression may now fairly claim a permanent place in the language. The primary meaning has been somewhat enlarged. ‘That’s all buncombe’ is equivalent to ‘That’s all nonsense’ or ‘an absurdity.’ Also used attributively; for example, a bunkum proclamation, bunkum logic, bunkum politicians, etc. 1841. Richmond Compiler, Aug. 17. He was not speaking to the House but to bunkum. 1859. Sala, Tw. Round the Clock, 2 a.m., par. 9. These tales, full of sound and fury, told by honourable idiots full of unutterable ‘bunkum’ (an Americanism I feel constrained to use, as signifying nothingness, ineftably inept and irremediably fire-perforated windbaggery, and sublimated cucumber sunbeams hopelessly eclipsed into Dis)— 1861. Blackwood’s Mag., April. ‘This parable, explaining the origin of buncombe, would form a very useful text to set up, handsomely illustrated, over the Speaker’s chair in Parliament.’ 1862. New York Tribune, Feb. 11. Despatch from Kansas. General Sibley was within thirty miles of Fort Craig, with twenty-five hundred Texans, with artillery, and had issued a bunkum proclamation. 1884. Echo, May 12, p. 4, col. 2. It will be seen that the wonderful tales about the favourites were like the reports about Richmond’s lameness, all bunkum. 1888. Daily Inter-Ocean, March 3. This thing of trying to rule a husband is all buncombe; it can’t be done. You can coax most men, bribe some, and govern a very few, but that vulgar rubbing of the fur the right way wins every time. 1889. Pall Mall Gazette, 18 Oct., p. 6, col. 2. His explanation was contained in the three words, ‘Bosh, rubbish, and bunkum.’ Was it not time, asked the speaker, that the ‘great unwashed’ should declare that the ‘great unpaid’ were no longer at liberty to oppress them? Bunky, adj. (Christ’s Hospital).—Awkward; ill-finished. Bunnick, verb (common).—To settle; to dispose of. 1886. Punch, 17 July, p. 25. ’Owsom-ever we’ve bunnicked up Gladsting, a barney all patriots enjoy. Bunny Grub, subs. (Cheltenham College).—Green vegetables, such as cabbage, lettuce, and the like. [Obviously from bunny, a pet name for a rabbit, + grub, a slang term for provender, i.e., food akin to that upon which rabbits are fed.] At the Royal Military Academy and other schools an equivalent is grass (q.v.). Bunse.—See Bunce. Bun-Struggle or Bun-Worry, subs. (military).—A tea meeting given to soldiers. For synonymous terms, see Tea fight. Bunt.—See Bunce. Bunter, subs. (harlotry).—1. A prostitute; one who adds theft to her other vocation; also a term of contempt for any low woman. See, however, quot. from Dyche, 1748, and Mayhew, 1851. For analogous terms, see Barrack-hack. 1705–7. E. Ward, Hudibras Rediv., II., ii. (1715), 25. Punks, Strolers, Market Dames, and Bunters. [M.] 1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. xlvii. And asked with some heat, if he thought I had spent the evening in a cellar with chairmen and bunters. 1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Bunter (s.), one who goes about the streets to gather rags, bones, etc. 1759. Walpole, Parish Register. Here Fielding met his bunter Muse, And, as they quaff’d the fiery juice, Droll Nature stamp’d each lucky hit, With unimaginable wit. 1763. British Magazine, vol. IV., p. 542. I heard a bunter at the Horse-Guards ... swear she would not venture into the Park. 1765. Goldsmith, Essays, x. The bunters who swagger in the streets of London. 1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. II., p. 158. They were known by the name of bunters, which signifies properly gatherers of rags. 2. Explained by quotation. [Bunter here may be a confused variant of bunker, one who runs away or ‘slopes.’] 1851. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, IV., 223. There is a class of women technically known as bunters, who take lodgings, and after staying some time run away without paying their rent. Burdon’s Hotel, subs. (thieves’).—Whitecross Street Prison, of which the Governor was a Mr. Burdon. Almost every prison has a nickname of this kind, either from the name of the Governor, or from some local circumstance. The Queen’s Bench has an immense number of names—spike, park, etc.; and every Chief-Justice stands godfather to it. For full list of such names, see Cage. 1861. Dutton Cook, Paul Foster’s Daughter, ch. ii. ‘David, be respectable, whatever you are, be respectable, and Burdon’s hotel is not for you to sojourn at.’ Burick or Burerk, subs. (old).—Latterly applied to any woman or ‘lady,’ especially one showily dressed, but formerly a thief’s term for a prostitute. 1819. J. H. Vaux, Memoirs. Burick is a prostitute, or common woman. 1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, I., p. 262. If they can meet with the burerk (mistress) or the young ladies, etc. 1889. Answers, July 20, p. 121, col. 2. Let him ask the loafer what his ‘Monekear’ (name) is; whether he can drink a ‘shant of patter’ (pint of beer); whether he finds the ‘bone’ or ‘gammy’—that is good or bad as regards begging; and which sex gives him most—the ‘burerks’ (ladies), or the ‘Toffs’ (gentlemen). Amongst French equivalents for a well-dressed woman may be mentioned une panuche (this name is also applied to a prostitute living in a brothel); une dubuge; une faraude (the masculine form, un faraud, signifies a vulgar fellow proud of smart clothes—a snob, a swell). Burke, verb (military).—To dye the moustache and whiskers. [Burke properly is to smother or hush up, and the allusion in the military term is to the practice which once prevailed in smart regiments of dyeing or smothering the natural colour of the hair for the sake of uniformity. The regulations at one time as regards the style of wearing the hair were very stringent and precise.] Burn, verb (thieves).—To cheat; to swindle. Burnanded, verb (? nonce word).—To pilfer plots (of plays, novels, etc.). [Probably only a nonce word; a formation on the same lines as ‘Burke,’ ‘Boycott,’ etc., from the name of Mr. F. Burnand, the editor of Punch.] 1882. Echo, Feb. 11, p. 3. The American papers continue to attack the play [The Colonel] vigorously. One of the journals there has invented a new verb to signify the pilfering of plots. ‘Burnanded’ is the term. Burn Crust, subs. (old).—A jocular name for a baker. Cf., Master of the mint for a gardener; Bung for a brewer; Ball of wax for a shoemaker; Quill-driver for a clerk; Snip for a tailor, etc. Burned. To be burned, verb (old).—To be infected with a venereal disease.—See Burning. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. He was sent out a sacrifice, and came home a burnt offering; saying of seamen who have caught the venereal disease abroad. Burner, subs. (old).—1. A card-sharper. 2. (old.)—The same as burning (q.v.). Burning, verb, subs. (old).—A venereal disease. Shakspeare alludes to it in King Lear, ‘No heretics burn’d, but wenches’ suitors.’ Burning Shame.—An obscene practice.—See Grose. Burning the Parade, phr. (old).—Thus explained by Grose: ‘Warning more men for a guard than were necessary, and excusing the supernumeraries for money. This was a practice formerly winked at in most garrisons, and was a very considerable perquisite to the adjutants and sergeant majors; the pretence for it was to purchase coal and candle for the guard, whence it was called burning the parade.’ Burn My Breeches! phr. (old).—A mild kind of oath. A few latter day ‘fancies’ of the same kind will be found under Oaths. 1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial, p. 46. ... (Bill Gibbons ne’er In all his days was known to swear, Except light oaths, to grace his speeches, Like ‘dash my wig,’ or ‘burn my breeches.’) Burn the Ken, verbal phr. (old).—To live at an inn or tavern without paying for one’s quarters. [From burn (q.v.), to cheat, + ken, an inn, tavern, or place.] Burr, subs. (old).—A hanger on; a dependent; one who sponges. [An allusion to field burrs or prickly seed pods, which when once attached to the clothing are difficult to remove.] Verb (Marlborough College).—To fight; scrimmage or ‘rag.’ Burst, subs. (general).—1. A spree; drunken frolic; big feed; blow out (q.v.). Usually on the burst, an extension of the figurative usage of the word signifying a violent outburst.—See Bust. 1880. Blackwood’s Mag., June, p. 775. He became a madman when drunk. Once ‘on the burst,’ as he phrased it, money, horses, cows, furniture, even his wife’s wearing apparel, went to feed the insatiable and cruel demon who possessed him. 1881. Praed, Policy and Passion, vol. I., p. 228. When his men go on the burst, what can he do but make his daughters help? 2. (sporting.)—A sudden and vigorous access or display of energy; a lively pace or spurt. Bursted, ppl. adj. (general).—Hard up. [From burst, failure or collapse, + ed.] 1873. Chicago Daily Tribune, June 30. At the far end [of the room] four lank and bursted frontiersmen sang with a doleful want of melody or attention the celebrated ballad by John Hay on the fate of Little Breeches. Burster, subs. (racing).—1. A heavy fall; a ‘cropper.’ 1863. Evening Standard, 24 April. Benedict came down a burster, and was out of the race. 2. See also Buster, sense 1. Bury. Go bury yourself! phr. (American).—A Californianism which has more of the fortiter than the suaviter in its composition. Equivalent to ‘Go! hide your diminished head.’ Cf., Carry me out and bury me decently. To bury or dig up the hatchet, verbal phr. (American).—Amongst Indian tribes certain symbolic ceremonies are connected with the war-hatchet or tomahawk, which are equivalent to a declaration of war, or a compact of peace.—To bury the hatchet is the emblem of the putting away of strife and enmity; on the other hand, the red skin, before he commences hostilities, digs up afresh the fateful symbol. This picturesque imagery has passed into the colloquial inheritance of the American people, and the expressions of burying or digging up the hatchet are frequently applied to the affairs of everyday life. This symbolism though new in form is old in idea. Shakspeare in The Tempest, v., 1, 55, says, ‘I’le breake my staffe, bury it certaine fadomes in the earth.’ 1855–59. Washington Irving, Life of Washington, I., p. 361. ‘They smoked the pipe of peace together, and the colonel claimed the credit of having, by his diplomacy, persuaded the sachem to bury the hatchet.’ 1855. Longfellow, Hiawatha, 13. Buried was the bloody hatchet; Buried was the dreadful war-club; Buried were all warlike weapons, And the war-cry was forgotten; Then was peace among the nations. 1873. Carleton Ballads. I don’t know what you’ll think, sir—I didn’t come to inquire— But I picked up that agreement and stuffed it in the fire; And I told her we’d bury the hatchet alongside of the cow; And we struck an agreement never to have another row. To bury a moll, phr. (general).—To desert or forsake a wife or mistress. [Moll = woman, wife, or prostitute.] French Synonyms. Envoyer une ouistiti (ouistiti signifies properly a striated monkey); lâcher une femme (literally to cast off a woman); balancer une largue. To bury a Quaker, phr. (Irish slang).—To evacuate; to ease oneself. English Synonyms. To go to the crapping castle, casa, or ken (castle, casa, and ken are old canting terms for a place or house); to the West Central (a punning allusion to the initials W.C. for water closet); to Mrs. Jones; to the chapel-of-ease; to Sir Harry; to the bog-house, rear, dunnock, coffee-shop; to see one’s aunt; to crap; to go and sing ‘sweet violets’; to go where the queen always goes on foot. French Synonyms. Mousser (popular: literally to foam or effervesce); enterrer son colonel (Cf., to bury a Quaker); aller faire une ballade à la lune (i.e., ‘to go and sing to the moon’; also ballade = stroll, walk, or lounge; likewise in French slang lune = posteriors); mouler un sénateur (popular); mouler une Venus (artists’); gazonner (literally to ‘cover with turf’); aller au numero cent (a play upon the word sent); déponer (Michel thinks that though at first sight this word would seem to be directly derived from the Latin deponere, yet it really either comes from the old French ponant, signifying posteriors, or from the verb poner, used in the thirteenth century in the sense of pondre, i.e., to lay eggs); débourrer sa pipe (popular); défalquer (popular); tarter or tartir (popular and thieves’: in Latin alvum deponere. Cf., Italian Fourbesque tartire); faire une moulure (moulure in architecture = moulding); aller quelque part (lit. to go somewhere); aller à ses affaires (lit. ‘to go to one’s business’); aller où le roi va à pied (i.e., to go where the king goes on foot. Cf., to go where the queen always goes on foot); filer (properly to spin); aller chez Jules (to go to Julius. Cf., to go and see one’s aunt); ierchem (low: chier, a disguised obscenity, + em); flasquer (thieves’); touser (this word comes from tourtouse and signifies properly faire de la corde); faire corps neuf (properly to take a new lease of one’s life); déposer une médaille de papier volant, or des Pays-Bas (obsolete); faire des cordes (des cordes = strings); mettre une lettre à la poste (lit. to go and post a letter); faire le grand (grand = an opprobrious epithet); faire une commission (to run an errand); fogner (popular); flaquer (popular: literally ‘to dash’ [water or any other liquid]); écrire à un Juif (literally to write to a Jew); déposer une pêche (popular); poser une pépin (popular: poser = to place or cast down; pépin, in botany a kernel or pip); poser un factionnaire (popular: factionnaire is properly a sentinel or sentry); poser une sentinelle (popular: with same meaning as foregoing); envoyer une depèche à Bismarck (popular: this may be a contemptuous usage of the German Chancellor’s name, although in French slang couleur Bismarck = brown colour); aller où le roi n’envoie personne (lit. to go where the king sends no one); flaquader (flaque = excrement); fuser (properly to dissolve); gâcher du gros (popular); galipoter (another slang meaning of this word is ‘to smear’); pousser son rond (popular); faire ronfler la chaire percée—Thomas—le bourrelet—la chaise percée (faire ronfler = to cause to or make snore, chaire = Bishop’s throne, chaire percée = close-stool, and bourrelet = padded cushion with hole in centre, Thomas = bedroom chamber); aller voir Bernard (Cf., aller chez Jules); aller au buen-retiro (buen retiro properly = a private place of retirement, but in this sense is an ironical allusion to a W.C.); faire un pruneau or poser un pruneau (Michel thinks this expression is derived from clos Bruneau, a facetious name given to the posteriors about the sixteenth century); filer le cable de proue (Michel gives this as of nautical origin—seamen’s latrines being situated in the fo’cas’le). Italian Fourbesque. Tartire (properly to lighten or ease one’s conscience by confessing to a Priest). To bury a wife, verbal phr. (old).—To feast and make merry, an expression used in connection with the jollifications frequently indulged in by apprentices on the completion of their term of indenture, when they became ‘full blown’ craftsmen. Bus or Buss, subs. (theatrical).—1. A variant of business (q.v.), of which it is an abbreviation. Pronounced biz. 2. (common.)—A contraction of ‘omnibus.’ 1832. Ht. Martineau, Weal and Woe, i., 14. If the station offers me a place in a buss. [M.] 1852. Dickens, Bleak House, p. 93. He proposed that they should go, per buss, a little way into the country. 1861. Thackeray, Adventures of Philip, II., p. 316. We were mortified to see that of the five persons conveyed by the ’bus, one was a tradesman, etc. 1869. Black, In Silk Attire, II., p. 205. Annie Brunel got out of the Hampstead ’bus, and found herself in the muddy highway. Verb (American).—To punch [one’s head]. Bush or Be Bushed, verb (Australian).—Primarily to camp out in the bush; or to get lost in the bush. Hence a slang usage in which the expression is applied to a person in any mental or physical difficulty or muddle. 1887. All the Year Round, July 30, p. 68. An Australian says that he is bushed just as an Englishman, equally characteristically, declares that he is fogged. 1889. B. L. Farjeon, In Australian Wilds. ‘We shall have to bush it, mate,’ I said. ‘That’s so,’ said Lilly Trot, unconcernedly; but looking about him sharply, despite his apparent carelessness, for a suitable spot to camp on. Ibid. We were on horseback, with blankets before us on our saddles, to provide for our getting bushed. We were prepared for rough times. I carried my revolver, and Lilly Trot had a villainous-looking black life-preserver up his sleeve, ready at a moment’s notice for any emergency. Bushed, ppl. adj. (old).—Hard up; without money; destitute. 1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dictionary. Bush’d, poor; without money. Bushed On, verbal phr. (common).—Pleased; delighted. Bushel Bubby, subs. (old).—A full and large breasted woman. [From bushel, a (large) measure, + bubby (q.v.), a breast.] Cf., Bubber. Bushwhacker, subs. (American political).—In politics, as in war, simply a ‘free-lance.’ During the Rebellion deserters from the ranks of both armies infested the country, bands of these marauders making raids upon defenceless houses and even going the length of sacking whole towns. Originally the term was harmless enough in meaning. At a time when water-communication was the chief means of locomotion, and the rivers, streams, and creeks of densely wooded regions were alive with the advance guards of civilization, bushwhacking was the name given to the means by which lumbermen propelled their craft up and down stream. This was accomplished by pulling the bushes growing by the water side; or, on land, by the cutting away of a thicket in order to obtain a passage. The man who did this, and the instrument—a kind of scythe or cutlass with which, in the latter case, he thus forced his way—were alike called bushwhackers. The word has gone through yet another transition. Since the war it has also come to mean a ‘country bumpkin,’ a ‘clod-pole,’ or any other person of a ‘verdant’ character. Bushy Park, subs. (rhyming slang).—A lark. To be in Bushy Park, phr. (old).—To be poor. Business, subs. (old).—1. Sexual intercourse. For synonyms, see Greens. 1630. Taylor, Workes. And Lais of Corinth, ask’d Demosthenes One hundred crownes for one night’s businesse. 1654. Wits Recreations. What Crispulus is that in a new gown, All trim’d with loops and buttons up and down, That learns there on his arm in private chat With thy young wife, what Crispulus is that? He’s proctor of a court, thou say’st and does Some business of my wives: thou brainless goose, He does no business of thy wives, not he, He does thy business (Coracine) for thee. 2. (theatrical.)—Dramatic action; bye-play. 1753. The World, No. 26. We are too much enamoured with what is called intrigue, business, and bustle, in our plays. 1820. Scott, The Abbot, ch. xxvii. (III., p. 6). The ... went, came, and returned, mingling in every scene of the piece, and interrupting the business. 1860. Cornhill Magazine, Dec., p. 749. So well do performers understand this principle, that they give the literary composition the utmost contemptuous title of ‘words,’ while they dignify the movements of the characters with the name of business. 1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 282. Tom observed, I never saw such business before; how do you do it with that board thing, for I can’t manage it? I have knocked and bruised some of my people about so that they swear they would sooner leave than have such another day. 1880. Punch, Sept. 18, 130. ‘Quite in his Line.’ Stout Major (to Professional Actor, who has been asked down to coach the Garrison Amateurs): ‘Aw—we played The Bells at our last Theatricals, of which I’ve the Management. I—aw—played Irving’s part myself. Aw—immense Success!’ Professional (drily): ‘Of course you’ve seen him in it?’ Major: ‘Ya-as—but—aw—I didn’t copy him in the least—aw—my own ‘Business.’ Aw—Entirely different reading. In fact, every one said it wasn’t a bit like him!’ 1883. H. Irving, in Good Words, Jan., p. 34. Then consider what scope the ‘business’ of the scene gives to the actor’s purpose. To do one’s business for one, phr. (common).—To kill; to cause one’s death. 1880. Jas. Greenwood, Grandmother Cooper, in Odd People in Odd Places, p. 4. ‘They said it was his hurts as killed him,’ said the old lady, ‘but it was no use ’em telling me that. It was the bricks and mortar that did his business, poor chap.’ Business End [of a thing], subs. (American).—The practical part. Busk It, verb (vagrants’).—To sell obscene songs and books at the bars and in the tap-rooms of public houses. Sometimes it implies selling other articles. Also to ‘work’ public houses and certain spots as an itinerant musician or vocalist. So also busking, verb subs. and ppl. adj. and busker, a man who thus sings and performs in public houses: an itinerant. 1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, III., p. 234. From a furniture-carter of this description I received some most shocking details of having to busk it, as this taking about goods for sale is called by those in the trade. Ibid, I., p. 229. They obtained a livelihood by busking, as it is termed, or in other words, by offering their goods for sale only at the bars or in the tap-rooms and parlours of taverns. Ibid, III., p. 216. Busking is going into public houses and playing and singing and dancing. Ibid, p. 222. I now thought I’d try what is termed busking, that is going into public houses and cutting likenesses of the company. 1883. Advt. in Echo, May 10, p. 4, col. 6. Busking.—A player on the harp and violin wants a mate. 1887. Referee, August 21, p. 3, col. 2. Mac himself ... will appear in the Racecourse scene as a busker. Busker.—See under Busk. Busking.—See under Busk. Busnapper.—See Buz-napper. Busnapper’s Kinchin.—See Buz-napper’s Kinchin. Buss.—See Bus. Buss Beggar, subs. (old).—An old prostitute of the lowest type; a beggar’s trull. Bust, subs. (vulgar).—A corrupted form of burst. So also busting (adj.); busted (ppl. adj.), etc., etc. 1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, p. 219. A kind of busting noise. 2. (thieves’.)—A burglary. 18(?79). Horsley, Jottings from Jail. ‘Fatty Bill, from City Road, rem. for a bust ex. two years,’ means that William ... has been compelled to leave his congenial haunts in the City Road, as he is remanded for a burglary, and anticipates two years’ hard labour. 3. (general.)—A frolic; a spree; a drunken debauch. Cf., To go on the bust. 1860. Bartlett (quoted in), A Californian Song. And when we get our pockets full Of this bright, shinin’ dust, We’ll travel straight for home again, And spend it on a bust. 4. (American.)—A failure; a fizzle. Verb (vulgar).—1. To burst; explode. 1838. Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, II., p. 366. His genius would have busted. 1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, I., p. 286. Keep cool, Jefferson ... don’t bust! Ibid, II., p. 124. If the biler of this vessel was Toe bust, Sir, ... and Toe bust now, it would be a festival day in the calendar of despotism. 2. (thieves’.)—To commit a burglary. 3. (thieves’.)—To inform against an accomplice. A slang variant of ‘split’ (turn king’s evidence, impeach). The person who does this splits or bursts the whole concern. 4. (American.)—To fail in business or transactions of any kind. 5. (general.)—To put out of breath; to ‘wind.’ c. 1880. Broadside Ballad, ‘Taking out the Baby.’ Spoken—And they had all been taking out the baby, and all had had such a doing—that boy o’ mine nearly busted me—and of course they all think they deserve a glass of beer. 6. (American.)—To indulge in a drunken frolic; to go on the spree. Cf., To go on the bust. 1869. New Orleans Picayune, Feb. 14. ‘Because I was a good-natured fellow, I had to go with them, rollicking, teaparting, excursioning, and busting generally.’ 7. (American.)—To destroy; to commit suicide; to ‘set aside’; to expose. 1880. Bret Harte, Chiquita, p. 22. Did you know Briggs of Tuolumne? Busted hisself in White Pine, and blew out is brains. 1883. North of England Advertiser, Sept. 1. Then he got the Moabite pottery which Mr. Clement Ganneau busted. Bust me! phr. (common).—A mild oath—blow me! jigger me! (q.v.)—See also Oaths. 1859. Dickens, Tale of Two Cities, bk. I., ch. iii. ‘Bust me if I don’t think he’d been a drinking!’ To go on the bust, phr. (common).—To go on a frolic or spree. For synonyms, see Paint the town red. Buster, subs. (common).—1. A small new loaf; also a coarse cake or bun of large size that fills or blows out the stomach of the eater. [From bust, a vulgar form of ‘burst,’ + er.] Cf., Starver. 1821. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act ii., Sc. 3. Bob: Now, landlord, ‘arter that ere drap of max, suppose we haves a drain o’ heavy wet, just by way of cooling our chaffers—mine’s as dry as a chip—and, I say, do you hear, let’s have a twopenny burster, half a quartern of beesvax, a ha’p’orth o’ ingens, and a dollop o’ salt along vith it, vill you? Mace: Bellay! a burster and beesvax—and salt here. (Calling as he fetches the porter from the side wing, l.) Now, then, here you are, Master Grimmuzzle. 1841. Comic Almanacks, 1835–43 (Hotten), p. 295. ‘Cut us a slap-up slice of Cheshire cheese, And tip’s a twopenny burster if you please.’ 1849. Bell’s Life. [From Baumann.] A burster with a slice of beeswax. 1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 192. Mo and his man were having a great breakfast one morning at Newcastle, off a twopenny buster and a small bit of butter, with some wishy-washy coffee.... c. 1882. Broadside Ballad, ‘I can’t get at it.’ I can’t get at it, I can’t get at it, I like the faggots tho’ they smell, But now the penny’s down the well, I can’t get at it, I can’t get at it, I thought I’d have a ‘buster’ but it’s all no go! 2. (thieves’.)—A burglar. For synonyms, see Area-sneak. Cf., Bust, subs., sense 2, and verb, sense 2. 1879. J. W. Horsley, ‘Autobiography of a Thief,’ in Macm. Mag., XL., 582. Busters and screwsmen (burglars). 3. (common.)—Anything of superior size; that has unusual capacity; that causes admiration; a spurt. Hence to ‘come an awful buster,’ ‘to fall heavily,’ ‘to come a cropper’; ‘in for a buster,’ prepared, ready or determined for a spree. 1852. H. B. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, ch. x. ‘Lor, Pete,’ said Mose, triumphantly, ‘han’t we got a buster of a breakfast!’ at the same time catching at a fragment of the chicken. 1860. Dickens, Great Expectations, ch. vii., p. 28. ‘At such time as when your sister is on the Ram-page, Pip,’ Joe sank his voice to a whisper, and glanced at the door, ‘candour compels fur to admit that she is a Buster.’ 1870. Popular Song on Franco-German War. ... Thank God, my dear Augusta, We’ve had another awful buster, Ten thousand Frenchmen sent below, Praise God from whom all blessings flow! c. 1880. Broadside Ballad, ‘I’ll never go courting again.’ A lawyer’s niece, next, I admired, But brief he made my wooing spec; To a banker’s ward then, I aspired, But got from the banker a check (cheque). A publican said, other measures For his girl he’d to carry out, And a baker he gave me a ‘buster,’ With a ‘brick,’ sent me rolling about. 4. (Australian.)—A heavy storm from the south. Otherwise called in Sydney a brick fielder (q.v.). 1885. Household Words, 10 Oct., p. 463. In anxious expectation we now awaited the result of this curious phenomenon of darkest night in day, which, accustomed to the portents that sometimes herald in the terrific busters of these southern seas, as most of us were, all declared they had never seen it equalled. Busting, verb, subs. (thieves’.)—Informing against accomplices; turning Queen’s evidence. Cf., Bust, verb, sense 3. For synonyms, see Peaching. Bustle, subs. (common).—1. A pad, roll, or wire contrivance worn by women at the back in order to extend the dress, and also with a view to setting off the smallness of the waist. [Origin uncertain.] For synonyms, see Birdcage. 1788. T. Monro, in Olla Podrida, No. 40. Such locks the nymphs now wear (in silks who rustle), In rich luxuriance reaching to the bustle. [M.] 1835. Sketches by Boz, p. 323. Whether she was pretty, whether she wore much bustle, etc. Ibid, p. 488. ‘Did you ever,’ said a little coquette with a large bustle. 1857. Trollope, Barchester Towers, ch. xlv., p. 384. Bertie finished off the countess’s bustle. 2. (old.)—Money. A full list of synonyms will be found under Actual. 1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dictionary. Bustle, a cant term for money. Ibid. Any object effected very suddenly, or in a hurry, is said to be done on the bustle. Verb (general).—To confuse; confound; perplex.—See previous quot. 1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 237. ‘Now bustle him,’ said Tom Maley; ‘you have got him to-rights now. Let go your left straight.’ Bust-Maker, subs. (common).—A molrower; a ‘loose fish’; a seducer. For synonyms, see Molrower. [From bust, a protuberance, + maker.] Busy-Sack, subs. (common).—A carpet bag. Called in America a grip-sack. Butcher, subs. (cards’).—1. The king in playing-cards. When card-playing in public houses was common, the kings were called butchers, the queens bitches, and the knaves jacks. The latter term is now in general use. In French slang the king is un bœuf. 2. (American.)—A peripatetic ‘small-boy’ vendor of ‘varieties’ and ‘notions’ on railway cars—at once a convenience and a ‘terror.’ 3. (thieves’.)—The prison doctor. For synonyms, see Crocus. Butcher About, verb (Wellington College).—To make a great noise; to humbug about. Butcher’s Mourning, subs. (common).—A white hat with a black mourning hat-band. Butteker, subs. (old).—A shop. Butter, subs. (popular).—Fulsome flattery; unctuous praise; ‘soft soap.’ A French equivalent is le cirage. Cf., verb, sense 1. Also buttering-up. 1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, p. 40. For, knowing how, on Moulsey’s plain, The champion fibb’d the Poet’s nob, This buttering-up against the grain, We thought was curs’d genteel in Bob. 1823. Blackwood’s Magazine, XIV., p. 309. You have been daubed over by the dirty butter of his applause. 1857. A. Trollope, Three Clerks, ch. i. The quantity of butter which he poured over Mr. Hardline’s head and shoulders with the view of alleviating the misery which such a communication would be sure to inflict, was very great. 1880. World, 13 Oct. A lavish interchange of compliments, the butter being laid on pretty thick. Verb (common).—1. To flatter fulsomely; to indulge in rhodomantic praise. French cirer. 1700. Congreve, Way of World, prol. (1866), 259. The squire that’s buttered still is sure to be undone. [M.] 1725. New Canting Dictionary. To butter signifies also to cheat or defraud in a smooth and plausible manner. 1816. Scott, Antiquary, ch. xxxviii. ‘Keep him employed, man, for half-an-hour or so—butter him with some warlike terms—praise his dress and address.’ 1839. Lever, Harry Lorrequer, ch. xii. ‘He first butthers them up and then slithers them down!’ 1857. C. Kingsley, Two Years Ago. I’ll butter him, trust me. Nothing comforts a poor beggar like a bit of praise when he is down. 1884. Saturday Review, 5 July, p. 27, col. 1. The Lord Chief Justice of England made a tour through America, and generously buttered the natives. 2. (old.)—Jamieson says, ‘to increase the stakes every throw or every game.’ 1690. B. E., Dictionary of Canting Crew. Butter, to double or treble the bet or wager to recover all losses. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Butter a bet, to double or triple it. To look as if butter would not melt in one’s mouth, phr. (old).—A contemptuous saying of a person of somewhat simple demeanour. Murray traces back this familiar phrase to 1530, but a reference to it appears in French literature at a much earlier date. 1475. Les Evangiles des Quenouilles—Vme Journée. Edition Elzevirienne. Paris (1855), p. 72. A cette parolle mist dame Mehault ses mains à ses costez et en grant couroux luy respondy que, etc., et que, Dieu merci, aincoires fondoit le burre en sa bouche, combien qu’elle ne peust croquier noisettes, car elle n’avoit que un seul dent. 1530. Palgrave, 620, 1. He maketh as thoughe butter wolde not melte in his mouth. [M.] 1562. Latimer, Serm. Lord’s Prayer, V., ii., 79. These fellows ... can speak so finely, that a man would think butter should scant melt in their mouths. 1687. Sedley, Bellamira. Sil. He look’d so demurely, I thought butter wou’d not have melted in his mouth, I hope you will make sure work with him before you send him again. 1738. Swift, Polite Conversation, i. She looks as if butter would not melt in her mouth, but I warrant cheese won’t choak her. 1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ch. xxviii. (III., p. 26). I am beginning to think ye are but a queer ane, ye look as if butter wadna melt in your mouth, but I sall warrant cheese no choak ye. 1850. Thackeray, Pendennis, I., p. 149. Telling her landlady how ... the Mayor was ... a nice, soft-spoken old gentleman; that butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth, etc. Will cut butter when it’s hot, phr. (common).—Said of a knife when blunt. An obvious allusion. Butter and eggs, subs. (common).—Explained by quotations. 1862. Macmillan’s Mag., Jan., p. 238. And I can do butter-and-eggs all down the slide.... The feat of butter-and-eggs consists in going down the slide on one foot and beating with the heel and toe of the other at short intervals. Compare the foregoing with the following. 1836. Dickens, Pickwick Papers, II., p. 9. Sam Weller, in particular, was displaying that beautiful feat of fancy sliding which is currently denominated ‘knocking at the cobblers’ door,’ and which is achieved by skimming over the ice on one foot, and occasionally giving a two-penny postman’s knock upon it, with the other. Butter-Bag or Butter-Box, subs. (old).—Opprobrious epithets for a Dutchman. [? In allusion to Holland producing large quantities of butter. Cf., quot., 1811.] 1600. Dekker, Gentle Craft, wks. (1873) I., 21. We have not men enow, but wee must entertaine every butter-box. [M.] 1650. Howell, Familiar Letters. And for the latter strength we may thank our countryman Ward, and Dansker the butterbag Hollander, which may be said to have bin two of the fatallest and most infamoust men that ever Christendom bred. 1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. Butter-box. A Dutchman, from the great quantity of butter eaten by the people of that country. Butter-Boat. To empty the butter-boat, phr. (common).—To lavish praise; to battle. [From butter-boat, a table utensil employed for serving melted butter.] 1865. Sat. Review, 7 Jan., p. 16, col. 2. That kind of praise which feels like the butter-boat down one’s back. [M.] 1866. J. H. Skinner, After Storm, I., 181. He praised some things and gave advice about others, using the butter-boat less freely than is customary at volunteer inspections. [M.] Butter-Box.—See Butter-bag. Buttercups, subs. (common).—A graceful pet name for children. 1877. E. L. Linton, World Well Lost, ch. vii. Hilda was still in the schoolroom, and seldom appeared even at afternoon tea; which in general is licensed to include ‘buttercups.’ Buttered, ppl. adj. (old).—1. Whipped. Cf., Dusted, Tanned, etc. (q.v.). 2. (common.)—Flattered.—See Butter, sense 1. Buttered Bun, subs. (old).—A mistress; also a prostitute, especially one who submits to the sexual embrace in quick succession with different men. [In this latter sense, if not in former, from buttered = greased + bun (q.v.), the female pudenda.] For synonyms, see Barrack-hack. 1679. Cullen, W., Flock of Court Misses, in Roxburgh Ballads (1884), V., 126. This is the day ... that sets our Monarch free From Buttered Buns [i.e., Louise de Quérouaille] and Slavery. 1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. One lying with a woman that has just lain with another man, is said to have a buttered bun. Butter-Fingered, comp. ppl. adj. (common).—Apt to let things fall; greasy or slippery-fingered. The nickname of butter-fingers is hence given to those who let things slip easily from their grasp. 1615. Markham, English Housewife, II., ii. (1668), 51. She must not be butter-fingered, sweet-toothed, nor faint-hearted; for the first will let everything fall, etc. 1857. Hood, Pen and Pencil Pictures, p. 141. He was a slovenly player, and went among the cricket lovers by the sobriquet of butter-fingers. 1861. G. Meredith, Evan Harrington. The long-hit-off, he who never was known to miss a catch—butter-fingered beast!—he has let the ball slip through his fingers. 1883. Miss Braddon, Golden Calf, ch. xiv. ‘I never allow no butter-fingered girls in this room, except to sweep or scrub, under my own eye. There’s not many ornaments, but what there is is precious, and the apple of master’s eye.’ Butter-Flap, subs. (rhyming slang).—A trap—i.e., a light cart. Butterfly, subs. (nautical).—1. A river barge. 2. (cabmen’s.)—The guard for the reins affixed to the top of a hansom cab. 1883. Standard, March 6, p. 6, col. 3. The box covered the whole roof of the cab, preventing him [the cabman] from seeing the butterfly. [M.] Butternuts, subs. (American.)—The sympathisers with the South in the North and the Middle States during the American Civil War; the term was derived from the colour of the uniforms worn in the early part of the war by Confederate soldiers in the West, which, being homespun, were dyed brown with the juice of the butternut (Juglans cinerea). Butter-Print, subs. (old).—A child; usually one that is illegitimate. Cf., Buttercup. 1620. Fletcher, Chances, I., v. You will be wiser one day, when you have purchased A bevy of these butter-prints. [M.] 1639. Beaumont and Fletcher, Wit Without Money, V., iv. I hope she has brought me no butter-print along with her to lay to my charge. [M.] 1709. Brit. Apollo, II., No. 46, p. 3, col. 2. Her Girl and her Boy, For Patterns employ, To make little Butter-Prints by. [M.] Buttock, subs. (old).—A common prostitute. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack, and Cf., File. 1674. R. Head, Canting Academy, 105. The Bawds and the Buttocks that lived there round. 1688. Shadwell, Squire of Alsatia, I., wks. (1720) IV., 17. What ogling there will be between thee and the Blowings!... Every buttock shall fall down before thee. 1690. B. E., Dictionary of the Canting Crew. Buttock and file, both whore and pickpocket. Buttock and File, subs. phr. (old).—A prostitute and her companion; sometimes bulk and file. Occasionally, too, buttock and file is used of a single individual—one who unites the roles of a thief and prostitute. [From buttock (q.v.), a whore, + file (q.v.), a pickpocket.] 1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 48 (1874). Bulk and File the Pickpocket and his mate. 1754. Fielding, Jonathan Wild, bk. I., ch. v. The same capacity which qualifies a mill-ben, a bridle-cull, or a buttock and file to arrive at any degree of eminence in his profession would likewise raise a man in what the world esteem a more honourable calling. 1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. Buttock and file, a common whore and a pickpocket. Buttock and Tongue, subs. (old).—A scolding woman; a shrew. Buttock and Twang, subs. (old).—A common prostitute, but who refrains from theft. Cf., Buttock and file. Buttock Ball, subs. (old).—1. A dance attended by prostitutes. Cf., Ballum rancum and Buff ball. 1687. T. Brown, Lib., Consc., in Dk. Buckingham’s Wks. (1705), II., 131. Why not into a Bibbing-house, as well as a Dancing School, a buttoc-ball, or the like. 2. (old.)—The sexual embrace; cohabitation. Cf., Bawdy banquet and Buttock banquetting. 1811. Lexicon Balatronicum. Buttock-ball, the amorous congress. Buttock Banquetting, subs. (old).—Harlotry. 1555. Fardle Facions, II., viii., 167. Whiche [wiues] maie neuerthelesse vse buttocke banquetyng abrode. Buttock-Broker, subs. (old).—A procuress; a bawd; an abbess (q.v.). Buttocking Shop, subs. (old).—A brothel; a house of ill fame used by the lowest class of public women. Button, subs. (old).—1. A shilling. Formerly this applied to good currency; it now only signifies counterfeit coin. For synonyms, see Below. 2. A decoy of any kind, whether the confederate of confidence trick men, or a sham buyer at an auction. Frequently called a buttoner (q.v.). Cf., Bunco-steerer. Fr. un allumé. 1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 358. They [cheap Jacks] have a man, or more generally a boy ... at a fair, to hank, or act as a button (a decoy), to purchase the first lot of goods put up. Ibid, III., p. 121. Then he (the thimble-rigger) turns round to the crowd, and pretends to be pushing them back, and whilst he is saying, ‘Come gentlemen, stand more backwarder,’ one of the confederates, who is called a ‘button,’ lifts up one of the thimbles with a pea under it, and laughs to those around, as much as to say, ‘We’ve found it out.’ 1877. Besant and Rice, Son of Vulcan, ix. The button, that is the confederate who egged on the flats. Verb.—To decoy; to act as confederate in swindles. Fr. aguicher. Not to care a button—brass button, etc., phr. (common).—A very old colloquialism indicative of small value. It has been in continuous use from the beginning of the fourteenth century down to the present time. Americans say ‘not worth a cent or a red cent,’ while among variants in common use in England may be mentioned ‘not to care a fig—a pin—or a sou.’ Button Burster or Button Buster, subs. (theatrical).—A low comedian. [The derivation is sufficiently obvious, that is, one who causes his auditors to laugh so that by a figure of speech their buttons are regarded as bursting off their clothes.] Button-Catcher, subs. (general).—A tailor. There may be mentioned among English Synonyms, snip; cabbage contractor; steel-bar driver; goose persuader; sufferer; ninth part of a man, etc. French Synonyms. Un gobeprune (thieves’); un emmailloteur (popular); un mangeur de prunes (general); un pique-poux; un pique-prunes; un pique-puces; un croque-prunes; un frus-quineur. (Most of these are offensive terms, as will be seen when it is stated that puces = fleas; poux = lice, and so on.) Buttoner, subs. (thieves’).—A card-sharper’s decoy, an equivalent of button, subs., sense 2. For synonyms, see Decoy-duck. 1841. Blackwood’s Mag., L., 202. Buttoners are those accomplices of thimble-riggers ... whose duty it is to act as flat-catchers or decoys, by personating flats. [M.] 1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant (3 ed.), p. 446. To entice another to play—buttoner. 1860. Cornhill Mag., II., 334. Enticer of another to play—buttoner. [M.] Button-On. To have a button on, phr. (printers’).—To have a fit of the blues; to be despondent.—See Chopper on. Button Pound, subs. (provincial).—Money. For synonyms generally, see Actual. Buttons, subs. (common).—A page; sometimes rendered by boy in buttons. [In allusion to the numerous buttons which usually adorn the front of a page’s jacket.] 1860. Thackeray, Lovel the Widower, p. 289. [Herein quoted as the name of a page.] 1873. Chambers’ Jour., p. 605. Even the smallest boy in buttons would have been a retainer too costly for us. 1874. H. Mayhew, London Characters, p. 311. Others limit their views to a page, or ‘buttons.’ 1885. Ill. Lon. News, April 11, p. 376, col. 1. Such a man is only fit to be dressed like a buttons, and set to open the door to visitors who come to call on his family. Dash or damn my buttons—wig, etc., phr. (general).—A mild oath, the word ‘damn’ often being represented by a dash. Ordinarily employed to express vexation or surprise.—See Oaths. 1860. Wm. Howard Russell, My Diary in India, I., p. 26. Darn my buttons if I haven’t jest a mind to.... Not to have all one’s buttons, phr. (common).—To be deficient in intellect; slightly cracky; to have a bee in one’s bonnet.—See Apartments to let. To have a soul above buttons, phr. (common).—To be above one’s work or duty; to think one’s ability superior to one’s position. [The quotation for 1795 to which Murray calls special attention would seem to indicate the possible origin of the phrase.] 1795. G. Colman, Sylv. Daggerwood, I. (1808), 10. My father was an eminent Button-Maker ... but I had a soul above buttons ... I panted for a liberal profession. [m.]. 1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, ch. i. But my father, who was a clergyman of the Church of England, and the youngest brother of a noble family, had a lucrative living and a soul above buttons, if his son had not. 1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, III., p. 93. If I were to say to Captain Crackthorpe, ‘What pretty buttons!’ he would be delighted. But you—you have a soul above buttons, I suppose. To make buttons, phr. (old).—To look sorry; sad; to be in great fear. 1593. G. Harvey, Pierces Supererog., in wks. II., 238. Thy witt already maketh buttons. 1653. Middleton, Sp. Gipsy, IV., iii. Sam. O Soto, I make buttons! Button Up, verb (American stockbrokers’).—When a broker has bought stock on speculation and it falls suddenly on his hands, whereby he is a loser, he keeps the matter to himself, and is reluctant to confess the ownership of a share. This is called buttoning up. Butty, subs. (common).—A comrade or partner. Properly and specifically a miner who raises coal or ore by contract at a special price per ton, employing others to do the actual work. Perhaps more provincial than slang, although a writer in Notes and Queries, July 30, 1870, suggests its origin in the Romany: he says in the gipsy dialect booty is the term for work. Booty-pal is a fellow-workman (literally work-brother). As usual when a polysyllable is imported into ordinary use, it loses its tail; so booty-pal, in the mouths of navvies ignorant of its origin, would soon be cut down to booty or butty. 1845. Disraeli, Sybil, wks. III., ch. i. Suppose we were to make a shift for a month or six weeks, ... and have no tommy out of the shop, what would the butty say to me? [A note to foregoing explains that a butty in the mining districts is a middleman: a Doggy is his manager. The butty generally keeps a Tommy or Truck shop and pays the wages of the labourers in goods.] Ibid, p. 385. The butty has given notice to quit in Parker’s field this se’nnight. Ibid, p. 389. The enemies of the people: all butties, doggies, dealers in truck and tommy. 1859. H. Kingsley, Geoffrey Hamlyn, ch. xxxi. ‘He and I cottoned together, and found out that we had been prisoners together five-and-twenty years agone. And so I shouted [stood drinks] for him, and he for me, and at last I says, “Butty,” says I, “who are those chaps round here on the lay?”’ 1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 101. William Carrol was his partner, or butty, in the ‘lollipop’ business—a dismal looking man, who had always a burnt short clay pipe in his mouth. Buvare, subs. (strolling players’).—Explained by quotation. Cf., also Beware. 1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. III., p. 201. [Ethiopian serenader loq.] ‘We could then, after our “nunyare” and “buvare” (that’s what we call eat and drink, and I think it’s broken Italian), carry home our 5/– or 6/– each, easy.’ Buy a Prop, phr. (Stock Exchange).—A term used to signify that the market has gone flat, and that there is no one to support it. Buz or Buzz, subs. (common).—A parlour game which is thus described by Hotten, who, however, erroneously limited it to public-houses:—The leader commences saying ‘one,’ the next on the left hand ‘two,’ the next ‘three,’ and so on to seven, when ‘buz’ must be said. Every seven and multiple of 7, as 14, 17, 21, 27, 28, etc., must not be mentioned, but ‘buz’ instead. Whoever breaks the rule pays a fine. 1868. Miss Alcott, Little Women, ch. iii. They ... were in the midst of a quiet game of ‘buzz’ with two or three other young people who had strayed in, when Hannah appeared. Verb (general).—1. Some uncertainty exists as to whether to buz signifies to drain a bottle or decanter to the last drop, or whether it means to share equally the last of a bottle of wine, when there is not enough for a full glass to each of the party. [See, however, quot. 1795.] Annandale and Hotten incline to the latter; Grose and Murray to the former view, and the following quotations appear to favour the explanation of the word first noticed as buzza by the burly lexicographer of the ‘Vulgar Tongue.’ [? A corruption of booze or bouze, i.e., to drink a bumper or to excess.] The Scotch say bouse a’, drink all. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. To buzza one, is to challenge him to pour out all the wine in the bottle into his glass, undertaking to drink it, should it prove more than the glass would hold; it is commonly said to one who hesitates to empty a bottle that is nearly out. 1795. Gent. Mag., p. 118. Briskly pushed towards me the decanter containing a tolerable bumper, and exclaimed, ‘Sir, I’ll buzz you: come, no heel taps!’ 1821. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act ii., Sc. 1. Cribb. ... I’ll give you, ‘May the best man win.’ (All drink.) May the best man win. Green. May the best man vin. Log. With all my heart; but, zounds! we’ve almost buzz’d the bowl. Let’s have another, and d’ye hear, Tom, serve it up in your prize cup; Jerry hasn’t seen it, and we mustn’t omit that. 1846–48. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, II., 138. ‘Get some more port, Bowls, old boy, whilst I buzz this bottle here—what was I saying?’ ‘I think you were speaking of dogs killing rats,’ Pitt remarked mildly, handing his cousin the decanter to buzz. 1871. Archibald Forbes, My Experiences of the War between France and Germany, I., p. 234. The Hotel which I had seen a few days before, where Von Tümpling’s staff were buzzing the bottles. 2. To pick pockets. [Probably an allusion to buzz in the sense of to talk busily. The victim in buzzing or buz-faking (q.v.) is generally engaged in conversation with a confederate, while the buzzer (q.v.) is committing the robbery.] For synonyms, see Prig. 1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 158. In order to give them an opportunity of working upon the prig and buz, that is, picking of pockets. 1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3 ed., p. 445. To pick pockets—to buzz. 1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 261. In my young days there used to travel about in gangs, like men of business, a lot of people called ‘Nobblers,’ who used to work the ‘thimble and pea rig’ and go buzzing, that is, picking pockets, assisted by some small boys. 3. (American thieves’.)—To search for; to look about one. Buz-Bloke.—See Buz-napper. Buz-Cove.—See Buz-napper. Buz-Gloak.—See Buz-napper. Buz-Man, subs. (thieves’).—1. A pickpocket. Cf., Buz-napper. 1856. H. Mayhew, Gt. World of London, p. 111. The London buzman (swell mobsman) can keep his pony by abstracting ‘skins’ (purses) from gentlemen’s pockets. 2. (thieves’.)—An informer. [From buzz, to talk or whisper, + man.] For synonyms, see Nark. 1877. W. Black, Green Past. and Picc., ch. xi. What was all this about ‘Billy Rowland,’ ‘Scotland Yard,’ ‘Spy,’ ‘Buzman,’ and the rest? Buz-Napper, subs. (old).—1. A pickpocket. [From buz, to pick pockets, + napper or nabber, one who seizes or snatches. ‘Buz-bloke,’ ‘buz-cove,’ ‘buz-gloak,’ ‘buz-man,’ and ‘buzzer,’ are all variants of buz-napper; ‘bloke,’ ‘cove,’ and ‘gloak,’ are old canting terms for a man.] For synonyms, see Area-sneak. 1781. G. Parker, View of Society, II., 174. A young fry of boys ... follow the profession of a buz-napper. 1819. J. H. Vaux, Memoirs of Convict Life in Australia. Buz-cove or buz-gloak, a pickpocket; a person who is clever at this practice is said to be a ‘good buz.’ 1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. III., ch. v. Until at last there was none so knowing, No such sneaksman or buz-gloak going. 1856. H. Mayhew, Gt. World of London, p. 46. Those who plunder by stealth, as ... ‘buzzers,’ who pick gentlemen’s pockets. 1859. Sala, Twice Round the Clock, 3 p.m., par. 10. Where these ruffiani, these copper captains and cozening buz-gloaks, are to be found during the day, or even up to midnight ... must remain a secret. 1862. Mayhew, Crim. Prisons, 46. Buzzers who pick gentlemen’s pockets, and ‘wires’ who pick ladies’ pockets. 1867. Galaxy, p. 634. While the [New York] police had no right to arrest pickpockets unless they caught them committing a theft, yet as they had the power to do so, they exercised it, and many were the car-buzzers they led captives to police headquarters. Buz-Napper’s Academy, subs. (old).—A school in which young thieves were trained. Figures were dressed up, and experienced tutors stood in various difficult attitudes for the boys to practise upon. When clever enough they were sent on the streets. Dickens gives full particulars of this old style of ‘business’ in Oliver Twist. 1781. G. Parker, View of Society, II., 173. [A Buz-napper’s Academy is named and described in this work.] Buz-Napper’s Kinchin, subs. (old).—A watchman. Synonymous terms in the sense of police will be found under beak (q.v.). Buzzer.—See Buz-napper. Buzzing or Buz-Faking, subs. (thieves’).—Pocket-picking. Cf., Buz, verb, sense 2. By-Blow, subs. (old).—An illegitimate child. [An allusion to the unacknowledged status of the mother, and the ‘accident’ of the birth of such children.] Also called by-chop and by-slip. 1594. Barnfield, Affectionate Shepherd. In such a ladies lappe, at such a slipperie by-blow, That in a world so wide could not be found such a wilie Lad; in an age so old, could not be found such an old lad. 1625. Massinger, Parl. of Love, II., i. Give to each by-blow, I know mine, a farm. 1678. C. Cotton, Scarronides, bk. I., p. 21 (ed. 1725). Now Venus was Æneas Mother, In the behalf then of her by-blow, Which had endured many a dry-Blow, She weeping came, sighing and throbbing. 1705–7. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus, vol. II., pt. II., p. 19. The poor Man’s House abound with Brats, As country Barn with Mice and Rats; And Parishes be fill’d with by-blows As thick as Butchers’ Stalls with Fly-blows. 1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). By-blow (s.), a bastard or illegitimate child. 1868. Browning, Ring and Bk., iv., 612. A drab’s brat, A beggar’s bye-blow. 1875. Ouida, Signa, vol. I., ch. iii., p. 34. The one who held the child turned his light on the little wet face;... ‘And whose by-blow is this?’ said he. ‘The devil knows,’ said he who knelt by the mother. ‘But it is Pippa.’ By-Chop.—See By-blow. 1632. Jonson, Magnetic Lady, iv., 2. First I have sent By-chop away; the cause gone, the fame ceaseth. By Cracky! intj.—A meaningless ejaculation conveying no idea beyond that of general surprise.—See Oaths. 1888. Superior Inter-Ocean. Say, haint Tubbs a Methodist? By cracky! here’s where it is, and in we walked. Bye-Drink, subs. (common).—Liquid refreshment taken at other than meal-times. [From bye = not in regular course + drink.] 1766. Kenrick, Falstaff’s Wedding, i., 1. I could wish, nevertheless, old white wine stood higher in his lordship’s favour; that I may not be stinted at table, or in my by-drinkings. 1883. Daily Telegraph, Jan. 10, p. 5, col. 3. Our business men—and many others who are not men of business—take, as it is, a great many more ‘bye-drinks’ in the way of ‘sherry’ and ‘whiskey cold’ than is good for them. By George! intj. phr. (popular).—An ejaculation signifying either surprise, or anger, or used without any special meaning. Phrases of the kind are very numerous, and are mainly employed by those whose poverty of language is otherwise very marked. [By George! may either be a reference to St. George, the patron saint of England, or to the predominant Christian name of the early sovereigns of the Brunswick dynasty.] 1731. Fielding, Grub Street Opera, Act iii., Sc. 7. By George, I’ll make an example of him. 1737. Bacchus and Venus, p. 117. ’Fore George, I’d knock him down. 1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xxxviii. ‘I—er—a little subject to this sort of thing—er—By George!’ By Goldam! intj. phr. (American).—A semi-veiled oath. The Yankee is peculiarly fertile in variations on the name of God, and gives a striking proof of his ingenuity in inventing new forms for the forbidden I swear. He has his by Gorram! by Goldam! and by Goshdang! by the side of the English oath by Golly! which occurs as early as 1743.—See Oaths. By Golly! intj. phr. (popular).—A euphemistic phrase for by God!—See Oaths. 1743. W. Warren, Five Arguments against Tythes. ‘The first person consulted a gentleman-farmer, and declared that he never read anything so good in his life. “By golly,” says he, “he ’as mauled the parsons.”’ 1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. III., p. 204. Then I turn round to him and say, ‘By golly, if you don’t leave off, I’ll broke you over de jaw.’ By Gorram!—See By Goldam! By Gosh! intj. phr. (popular).—A compromise for By God! 1804. C. K. Sharpe, in Correspondence (1888), I., 210. I promise, by Gosh (which is the most elegant and classical oath imaginable). 1877. W. Black, Green Past. and Picc., ch. xxxv. ‘If this goes on,’ said he suddenly, ‘by Gosh, I’ll heave!’ By Gum! By Gummy! intj. phr. (American).—Both these expletives are extracts from the great American Dictionary of Oaths and Cuss Words, compiled by descendants of the Puritan Fathers.—See Oaths. 1860. Haliburton (‘Sam Slick’), The Season Ticket, No. ix. ‘By gum, Squire Shegog, we have had the greatest bobbery of a shindy in our carriage you ever knowed in all our born days.’ By Hook or By Crook.—See Hook. By Hooky, intj. phr. (popular).—A mild form of swearing.—See Oaths. 1882. Jas. Payn, For Cash Only, ch. xxii. ‘Pay me what you owe me,’ says I, ‘or, by hooky, I’ll tell your father.’ Byng, Bing, verb (old).—To go. Bynge-awaste, to go away. 1567. Harman, Caveat, or Warening for Commen Cursetors, p. 86. Man. What, stowe your bene, cofe, and cut benat whydds, and byng we to rome vyle, to nyp a bong; so shall we haue lowre for the bousing ken and when we byng back to the deuseauyel, we wyll fylche some duddes of the Ruffemans, or myll the ken for a lagge of dudes. [i.e.] What, holde your peace, good fellowe, and speake better wordes, and go we to London, to cut a purse; then shall we haue money for the ale house, and when wee come backe agayne into the country, we wyll steale some lynnen clothes of one hedges, or robbe some house for a bucke of clothes. 1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 37 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874). Bing a wast, get you hence. 1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Binged avast in a darkmans, stole away in the night. Bing we to Rumeville, shall we go to London? 1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xxviii. ‘Bing out and tour [go out and watch] ye auld devil, and see that nobody has scented.’ 1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xvii. ‘I smell a spy,’ replied the other, looking at Nigel.... ‘Bing avast, bing avast!’ replied his companion. By-Scape, subs. (old).—A bastard. Cf., By-blow. 1646. Earl Monm., Biondi’s List., VI., ix., 197. For his being God-son to her Brother, and ... for that (being very fair) she thought him a by-scape of his. [M.] By-Slip, subs. (old).—A bastard. See By-blow. 1692. Hacket, Life of Williams, ii., 37. As Pope Paul the Third carried himself to his ungracious by-slips (an Incubus could not have begot worse), who made no further inquisition after their horrid facts but to say, They learnt it not of him. Byte.—See Bit. By the Ever-Living Jumping Moses! intj. phr.—An effective ejaculation and moral waste-pipe for interior passion or wrath is seen in the exclamation, by the ever-living jumping Moses!—a harmless phrase, that for its length expends a considerable quantity of fiery anger.—Hotten. By the Living Jingo! or By Jingo!—See Jingo. By the Wind, phr. (nautical).—Hard up; in difficulties. [In reference to the wind being formerly the most important element of success in a sailor’s calling.] END OF VOL. I. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS, SIGNS, ETC. Adj. = Adjective. Adj. phr. = Adjectival phrase. Adv. = Adverb. Adv. phr. = Adverbial phrase. C. c. = Circa, about. Cf. cf. = Confer, compare. f. = feminine. F. or Fr. = French. Heb. = Hebrew. imp. = imperative. int. = interjection. intr. = intransitive. It. = Italian. lit. = literally. [M.] = Murray (quoted from New English Dictionary). m. = masculine. M.E. = Middle English. M.H.G. = Middle High German. [N.] = Nares (quoted from). O.E. = Old English. O.H.G. = Old High German. ppl. = participial or participle. phr. = phrase. pl. = plural. pop. = popular. ppl. adj. = participial adjective. (q.v.) = quod vide, which see. subs. = substantive. trans. = transitive. U.S. or U.S.A. = United States of America. When a word is printed in small capitals it should be referred to for further information.