buck up
»What he wants is _bucking up_; somebody to say to him, ‘Bravo! why, this
is splendid’.» (They And I. 239. 3.)
_The author._
_To buck up_ is _schoolboy slang_ (Winchester College) for _to be glad_,
_pleased_, _to cheer up_.
The usual expression is: _Oh, buck up!_—a phrase which at Westminster
School would have a different meaning, namely _exert yourself_; at
Uppingham, _to be bucked_ is _to be tired_. (Farmer & Henley.)
bunk
»Don’t see anything for it, but for him _to do a bunk_.»—»Not a bad idea
that, only where’s ’e to _bunk_ to?» (P. Kelver II. 56. 8.)
_A young clerk._
_To bunk_, probably originally _schoolboy slang_, means _to escape_, _run
away_, _take to flight_ (because of ‘funk’, or to avoid punishment).
_To do a bunk_: colloquial use of _do_ with a verb stem used as a noun =
achieve, perform, the action denoted by the verb. Cf. _to do a drink_.
bloke
»This _bloke_ I have fallen on looks a bit sick.» (P. Kelver II. 237. 2.)
_A plumber._
»I wouldn’t have them know as ’ow I was one of them college _blokes_.»
(Novel Notes 203. 23.)
_Uneducated young Londoner._
_Bloke_ (or _bloak_) is _London-cant_ for _man_, _fellow_. (Possibly, the
word is derived from the Dutch _blok_, Germ. _Block_, though, if this is
the case, it is difficult to account for the long vowel.)
blooming
»Not a _blooming_ shadow, assured me J.,» so far as she’s concerned. (P.
Kelver II. 53. 16.)
_A young City clerk._
»I will drift into being a _blooming_ milkman.» (T. T. T. 157. 2.)
_Uneducated Londoner._
»I ain’t got a _blooming_ sixpence on me.» (Sketches 128. 11.)
_The same._
»Underneath my sneering phiz I’m a _blooming_ ’Arry.» (Novel Notes 204.
10.)
_The same._
»D’ye think I am a _bloomin’_ kid?» (Tommy And Co. 16. 20.)
_The same._
»She gives me the _blooming_ ’ump.» (Novel Notes 202. 25.)
_A workman._
»I ain’t no _blooming_ Smythe.» (Novel Notes 203. 8.)
_The same._
_Blooming_ (bloomin’) is a term in high favour among the ‘vulgus’.
It is a euphemism, similar to _blessed_, _blamed_, _blarmed_, etc., and
is frequently used by the lower classes to emphasize words.
to blue