1885. Murray, New English Dictionary, Art. Balderdash, vol. I., p.
633, col. 3. From the evidence at present, the inference is that
the current sense was transferred from 1 or 2 [i.e., Froth, frothy
liquid, or a jumbled mixture of liquids] either with the notion of
‘frothy talk,’ or of ‘a senseless farrago,’ or ‘jumble of words.’
Most etymologists have, however, assumed 3 [nonsense; frothy talk,
etc.] to be the original sense, and sought its explanation in the
obvious similarity of balder to dialectical balder, ‘to use coarse
language’; Dutch, balderen, ‘to roar, thunder’; Norwegian, baldra;
Icelandic, baldrast, ballrast, ‘to make a clatter,’ and of -dash to
the verb dash in various senses. The Welsh baldorddus, adj., f.
baldordd, ‘idle, noisy talk, chatter,’ has also been adduced....
Other conjectures may be found in Wedgwood, Skeat, and E. Müller.
Bald-Face, subs. (American).—New whiskey; so villainous is the
compound, that only by courtesy can it be recognised as at all
approaching the Simon Pure. For synonyms, see Drinks.
Bald-Faced Shirt, subs. (American).—In cowboy lingo, a white shirt;
from the fact of being white on the face or front. Ordinarily bald-face
is used of animals, e.g., a bald-faced stag. Hereford cattle, too, have
white faces, and as cowboys are brought into close contact with all
kinds of cattle, the term as applied to a linen shirt is possibly a
mere transference in sense. Cf., Boiled shirt.
Bald-Faced Stag, subs. (common).—A bald-headed man; [from bald-faced,
having white on face + stag, a slang term for a man. Cf., Stag party.]
For synonyms, see Bladder of lard.
Baldheaded.—To go it baldheaded, phr. (American).—With eager
impetuosity, or great haste; to do a thing with all one’s might and
main. A suggestion of action without stopping to cover one’s head,
i.e., on the spur of the moment.
1848–62. J. R. Lowell, Biglow Papers, p. 6.
It ain’t by princerples nor men
My preudunt course is steadied,—
I scent which pays the best, an’ then
Go into it baldheaded.
1869. Our Young Folks. Whenever he had made up his mind to do a
thing he went at it baldheaded. [de v.]
1888. Pall Mall Gazette, June 22. The Chicago Republicans, to use
an Americanism, have gone baldheaded for protection. If shouting
could win a Presidential contest, Blaine and Protection would be
certain.
To snatch baldheaded, phr. (American).—To defeat a person in a street
fight.
1871. R. Grant White, Words and Their Uses.
The crowd than gave a specimen of calumny broke loose,
And said I’d snatched him baldheaded, and likewise cooked his
goose.
Bald-Headed Row, subs. phr. (American).—The first row of stalls at
theatres, especially those which make a feature of ballets. The term is
a cynical allusion to the fact that these seats are generally occupied
by men of mature age; the innuendo is obvious.—See Frog-salad.
Balditude, subs. (American).—A state of baldness. Probably a nonce
word.
1882. S. L. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn, p. 187. Trouble has done it, Bilgewater, trouble has done it;
trouble has brung these gray hairs and this premature balditude.
Baldober or Baldower, subs. (thieves’).—A leader; a head man; a
spokesman. This term has been imported into the lingo of English
thieves from the German Gaunersprache, in which it has very much the
same meaning.
Balductum, subs. (old).—Nonsense; rubbish. Cf., Balderdash.
Baldy, subs. (American).—A colloquial vulgarism for a bald-headed man.
Cf., Balditude.
Balfour’s Maiden, subs. (Parliamentary).—A nickname given to a kind of
covered battering-ram used by the Royal Irish Constabulary in carrying
out evictions in Ireland in the years 1888–9. On many estates the
tenants made most desperate resistance to all attempts on the part of
the landlords to recover possession, upon which the latter appealed
for, and obtained the assistance of the authorities. This but served to
intensify the struggle, and the tenants, driven to extremities, in some
cases resisted all endeavours, even to throwing boiling water over the
soldiers and police employed against them. To protect the evictors, and
also to render easier the demolition of the cabins of the wretched
people, a kind of covered battering-ram was made, whereupon the Home
Rule Party sarcastically gave it, amongst other nick-names, that of
Balfour’s maiden. The term was first used by Sir Wm. Harcourt in a
speech at a monster Home Rule meeting, held at St. James’s Hall, on
Wednesday, April 10, 1889. An account of the incident runs as follows:—
1889. Daily News, April 11. Resolute government has not been
absolutely extinguished. Now at Letterkenny, Mr. Balfour has
introduced a new invention, the latest development of resolute
government. The Government were questioned on the subject, and they
accepted the responsibility for the facts. It stated that in view
of the Olphert estate evictions, there reached there an iron-headed
spiked battering-ram to be used in carrying out the evictions. Why,
really, gentlemen, when you read of these things they are like the
pictures one sees of the Siege of Jerusalem—(loud laughter)—of the
implements, which the Latins called tormenta. We are familiar with
them in old mediæval castles. You find instruments called ‘The
Scavenger’s Daughter,’ and ‘The Maiden,’ and other implements of
that character. I think this last pattern of ram of Mr. Balfour’s
might be called ‘The Unionist’s Daughter’—(loud laughter)—or it
might be christened ‘Balfour’s Maiden.’ (Cheers and laughter.) But
not to deprive the Liberal Unionists of their share we might call
it ‘Chamberlain’s Tenants’ Protector.’ (Renewed merriment.)
Ball, subs. (thieves’).—1. A prison ration. 2. A drink.
To open the ball, phr. (common).—To commence an undertaking; to start
off.
1876. Eton Chronicle, July 20.
... Whatever may seem the mishaps of his team,
Whatever their failings and sinnings,
He who opened the ball and who saw them all fall,
Scarce deserved that defeat in one innings.
Ballad-Basket, subs. (old).—A street singer.—See Street pitcher. A
French equivalent is un braillard.
Ballambangjang, subs. (nautical).—The Straits of Ballambangjang, though
unnoticed by geographers, are frequently mentioned in sailors’ yarns as
being so narrow, and the rocks on each side so crowded with trees
inhabited by monkeys, that the ship’s yards cannot be squared, on
account of the monkey’s tails getting jammed into, and choking up, the
brace blocks.—Hotten.
Ballast, subs. (common).—Money. For synonyms, see Actual.
Well-ballasted, adj. (common).—A rich man is said to be well-ballasted.
English Synonyms. ‘To be flush’; also ‘to have brass; brads,’ etc. See
synonyms for money generally under Actual.
Among French equivalents for the solidity arising from the possession
of wealth may be mentioned:—Être zingué (popular: literally ‘to be
covered with zinc’); avoir des monacos (popular: monaco is an ironical
term for a sou); daim huppé (popular: daim, a slang term for a swell,
is properly a ‘buck,’ and huppé also signifies high in station,
well-off); homme au sac (familiar: ‘a man with a bag,’—presumably of
money); avoir des picaillons (popular: picaillons is thought to be a
corruption of picarons, a Spanish coin); être de la fête (popular:
i.e., ‘to be in luck’s way’); être sacqué (popular: meaning obvious);
rupin (thieves’ term); avoir de ce qui sonne (popular: ‘to have that
which chinks’); tailler en plein drap (popular).
In the Spanish Germania a rich or well-ballasted man is florido, i.e.,
‘flowery’ or ‘agreeable.’
Ball Face, subs. (American).—A contemptuous epithet applied by negroes
to white persons. Salem, Mass., 1810–1820.
Ball-Keeper, subs. (Winchester College).—In ‘Commoners’ an ‘Inferior’
appointed to look after cricket and footballs. In return for this
service he was exempted from ‘kicking in’ and ‘watching out.’ ‘Junior
in College’ has to bring through balls every evening.—See Balls.
Ball of Fire, subs. phr. (popular).—A glass of fiery and pungent
brandy. For all synonyms, see Drinks.
Ballooning, subs. (Stock Exchange).—Inflating the price of stocks by
fictitious means, such as newspaper articles, bogus sales, etc.
Balloon It, verb. (American).—To indulge in rhodomontade; to draw the
long bow; to talk big. Obviously from ‘to puff or swell out’ as a
balloon.
1878. T. Sinclair, Mount, 33. Gas-brained, ballooning wandering
men. [M.]
Ball O’ Wax, subs. (common).—A snob, or shoe-maker.—See Snob.
Balls. To bring through balls, phr. (Winchester College).—‘Junior in
College’ collects footballs from the lockers in school, and brings them
through at six o’clock to be blown, or repaired, if necessary.
To make balls of, verb. phr. (popular).—To go wrong; to do what ‘lands’
one in trouble; generally, to make a mistake.
All balls, adv. (popular).—All rubbish; nonsense. For synonyms, see All
my eye.
Ballum Rancum, subs. (old).—A hop or dance, where the women are all
prostitutes; a dance at a brothel. These orgies sometimes take the form
of ‘buff-balls,’ all present dancing in the nude.
Bally, adj. (popular).—A comparatively recent coinage, it is said, of
the Sporting Times, from ‘bally-hooly.’ Generally, though not always,
used as is ‘bloody,’ in the lower strata of the body politic. It also
signifies intensity, and in cases where the vocabulary at command is
limited, bally does yeoman’s service for such words as ‘fearful,’
‘dreadful,’ ‘terrible,’ ‘outrageous,’ ‘confounded.’
1889. Sporting Times, July 6 (Answers to Correspondents). H. G.
Steele.—Thanks. What a bally idiot you must be.
1889. Bird o’ Freedom, Aug. 7, p. 5. Newman Noggs, bringing small
boy to carry master’s bag, and inculcating manners at the same
time, ‘Now, what would you say if I was to give you sixpence for
taking it?’ ‘I should say ’twasnt half enough, and you can bally
well take it yourself,’ was the prompt reply. Boys are boys
nowadays, and no error, thinks Newman.
Bally-Bounder.—See Bally and Bounder.
Bally-Fellow.—See Bounder and Bally.
Bally Flat.—See Bounder and Bally.
Bally Fool.—See Bounder and Bally.
Ballyrag.—See Bullyrag.
Balm, subs. (old).—A lie.—Duncombe.
Balmy, subs. and adj. (common).—Sleep; sleepy. [From the figurative
sense of balmy, i.e., deliciously soft and soothing.]
To have a dose of the balmy; i.e., ‘to go to sleep.’
1840. Dickens, Old Curiosity Shop, ch. viii., p. 42. ‘As it’s
rather late, I’ll try and get a wink or two of the balmy.’
English Synonyms. To doss; to go to Bedfordshire (q.v.)—a play upon
words.
French Synonyms. La pionce or pionçage (popular: subs., see pioncer);
le somno (popular: an abbreviated form of somnolence); piquage de
romance (a military term); casser une canne, or sa canne (popular: this
also means ‘to die.’ In French as in other languages the analogy
between Sleep and Death is fully recognised. Many of the French slang
phrases for the former are also used to express the latter. Mors janua
vitæ!); casser son pif (popular: pif in French argot = ‘the nose.’
Amongst the peasants of Normandy and Berry it signifies a
‘grog-blossom’); pioncer (popular: from piausser, a provincialism for
‘to sleep’); piquer un chien (popular: piquer a canting verb of action,
‘to do’; therefore ‘to do as a dog’); piquer une romance (popular);
faire son lézard (popular: Cf., piquer un chien); faire son michaud
(thieves’: i.e., ‘to rest one’s head or knowledge box’); roupiller
(this term is in general colloquial use); se recueillir (popular: ‘to
wrap oneself in meditation’); compter des pauses (musicians’: ‘to count
the beats.’ Cf., various suggested remedies for overcoming insomnia;
e.g., counting slowly up to a hundred, etc., etc.); taper de l’œil
(popular: ‘to rub the eyes.’ Cf., English ‘to have sleepy dust in one’s
eyes’); mettre le chien au cran de repos (popular: ‘to curl oneself up
like a dog’); souffler ses clairs (popular: ‘to blow or put out one’s
light,’ i.e., ‘to shut the eyes’); fermer maillard (popular: to close
one’s shutters, i.e., eyelids. Maillard was the inventor of a
particular kind of shutter. Other analogous expressions are être
terrassé par maillard, i.e., ‘to be extremely sleepy.’ Sleep is
expressed by fermeture); faire schloff or schloffer, from the German
schlafen.
Spanish Synonym. In the Germania difunto, properly ‘defunct,’ is used
for asleep.
A Portuguese Synonym for sound sleep is a bom sornar, i.e., ‘to sleep
on both ears.’
2. Dull-witted; thick-skulled. In this sense balmy is used up and down
the whole gamut of imbecility from mere stolidity to downright
insanity. Popularly used, it signifies in most cases little more than
shallow-brained or muddle-headed; or, to use slang equivalents in their
most familiar sense, ‘to be touched,’ ‘to be wrong in the upper story,’
‘dotty.’ Among thieves, however, it is usually applied to insanity, to
put on the balmy stick being, among convicts, to feign madness.
1851. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 231. List
of patterers’ words. Balmy—Insane.
A large number of synonyms will be found under apartments to let, but
in addition to those there mentioned may be instanced the following in
the French slang:—Demenager (popular: ‘to remove one’s furniture.’ It
also means ‘to die’); paumer la sorbonne (i.e., ‘to punch the head,’
sorbonne being a slang term for that part of the human body. The
Sorbonne is a well-known university and seat of learning. Among
thieves, too, sorbonner is used in the sense of ‘to think’); être un
peu toc (i.e., slightly crazy; toc in slang = ridiculous); avoir une
pomme de canne felée (popular: a rather opprobrious expression, meaning
‘to have a slate off.’ Cf., ‘to have a tile loose’); avoir une fissure
(literally ‘to have a crack’); avoir un grain.
Balmy Cove, subs. (common).—A weak-minded individual; one who has ‘a
tile loose.’ [From balmy (q.v.) + cove, a man.] Among French thieves
such an individual is called un hurlubier (hurlublu is an obsolete term
used jestingly for a giddy goose or hair-brained person); also biscayen
from the Bicêtre prison which has a lunatic ward for demented convicts.
The prison itself is called La Biscaye, but this name has no connection
with the province of Biscay as might be supposed.
Balsam, subs. (thieves’ and popular).—One of the many generic names for
money. A full list of synonyms will be found under Actual. The allusion
of course is obvious, i.e., a healing soothing agent or agency; but, in
its secondary signification of impertinence, ‘brass,’ ‘cheek,’ etc.,
the reverse of the shield is given. Such reversals in the legitimate
meanings of words are not uncommon in slang.
Bam, subs. (old slang).—1. A cheat; an imposition; a story intended to
hoax the credulous; what nowadays generally goes under the name of
chaff or humbug [bam is thought to be an abbreviated form of bamboozle
(q.v.)]. Murray has traced it back to 1762, but it appears nearly
twenty years previous in Dyche’s dictionary, and also in Martin’s, the
second edition of which was published in 1754.—See verb To bam.
1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Bam (s.), a sham or pretence, a
lying excuse.
1762. Foote, Orators, Act ii. Why I know that man, he is all upon
his fun; he lecture—why ’tis all but a bam.
1817. Scott, Rob Roy, ch. ix. ‘It’s all a bam, ma’am—all a
bamboozle and a bite, that affair of his illness.’
Verb.—To hoax, to bamboozle; to wheedle; to cheat. [Of same formation
as substantive, which see above, and Cf., Bamboozle.] The first trace
of it appears in Cibber’s Double Gallant [1707], and is discussed by
Swift in his introduction to Polite Conversation [1738], where he
mentions among ‘the exquisite refinements’ then in vogue,—bam for
bamboozle, and bamboozle for, God knows what. Whereupon a correspondent
of Notes and Queries [2 S., Jan. 10, ’57, p. 31] alluding to the
despair of etymologists in regard to these words remarked that if from
was put in the place of for, it would describe the predicament in which
philologists are placed.
1754. H. Martin, Eng. Dict., 2 ed. To bam, or to bamboozle, to fun,
to fib, to sham.
1760. Colman, Polly Honeycombe, in wks. (1777) IV., 43. Lord, how
well he behaves! We shall certainly bam the old gentleman.
1830. Marryat, King’s Own, ch. xlix. ‘Now, you’re bamming me—don’t
attempt to put such stories off on your old granny.’
1874. E. L. Linton, Patricia Kemball, ch. xxxix. For a moment the
thought flashed across him whether ‘that tale of Gordon Frere was
all a bam, and had the girl taken a liking for himself?’
Bamblustercate, verb. (nonce-word).—A factitious creation signifying to
embarrass; confuse; or hoax in a blustering manner. [From bam, to hoax,
or confuse + bluster, noisy assertion + cate, a termination in
imitation of ‘conglomerate’.]—See also Comflogisticate.
Bamboo, verb. (American).—A corruption of bamboozle. To cheat; to
victimize; to hoax.—See, however, Bam and Bamboozle.
Bamboozle, verb. (familiar).—To hoax; deceive; or impose upon.
Philologists are all confessedly at sea in regard to the derivation of
bamboozle and its attributive forms, but the general tendency of
evidence is to refer it to a gypsy origin. Johnson states it to be a
cant word; and Bouchier, in his glossary says, ‘it has with great
propriety long had a place in the gypsy or canting dictionaries,’ it
being in his opinion ‘the sole invention of gypsies or vagrants.’
Leland thinks it ‘possibly’ the Hindu word bambhorna, to humbug, with
the gypsy terminative āsel. Wedgwood suggests its origin in the Italian
bamboccio, a young babe, and metaphorically an old dotard or babyish
gull; imbambolare, to blear or dim one’s sight, also with flatteries
and blandishments, to inveigle and make a fool of one. If a verb were
made of bambocciolo in the same way as bambocciolare, it would have
much the sense of bamboozle. A. E. Quekett (N. and Q., 5 S., xii., 488)
throws a side-light upon this last theory by pointing out that in
Shakspeare’s Taming of the Shrew, Katharina says, ‘Belike you mean to
make a puppet of me,’ and Petruchio replies, ‘Why true; he means to
make a puppet of thee.’ Comparing this passage with the rest of the
scene it would seem that Petruchio’s answer is not a mere repetition of
Katharina’s words, but contains a double entendre of some kind. He
(Quekett) then hazards that perhaps she meant to say, ‘Perhaps you mean
to treat me as a doll without a will of its own,’ while Petruchio
appears to mean something very like, ‘He wishes to bamboozle you.’
Be all this as it may, bamboozle first came into vogue during the early
part of the last century; for in the Tatler No. 230 [1710], we read,
‘The third refinement observable in the letter I send you consists in
the choice of certain words invented by some pretty fellows, such as
banter, bamboozle, country-put, and kidney, some of which are now
struggling for the vogue, and others are in possession of it’!
So also with the derivatives; e.g., bamboozle (subs.); Bamboozled;
bamboozlement; bamboozler; bamboozling.
1703. Cibber, She Would and She Would Not, II., i. (1736), 34. Sham
proofs, that they propos’d to bamboozle me with. [M.]
1709. Steele, Tatler, No. 31. But, says I, sir, I perceive this is
to you all bamboozling.
1712. Arbuthnot, History of John Bull, pt. III., ch. vi. There are
a sort of fellows that they call banterers and bamboozlers, that
play such tricks; but it seems these fellows were in earnest!
1731. Coffey, Devil to Pay, Act i., Sc. 3. You juggler, you
cheating, bamboozling villain!
1754. Foote, Knights, Act ii. You are tricked, imposed on,
bamboozled!
1779. R. Cumberland, Wheel of Fortune, Act ii., Sc. 1. You know I
love you, Emily, ... and therefore you baffle and bamboozle and
make a bumpkin of me.
1817. Scott, Rob Roy, ch. ix. ‘It’s all a bam, ma’am—all a
bamboozle and a bite, that affair of his illness.’
1827. Lytton, Pelham, ch. xxxvi. ‘One does not like to be
bamboozled out of one’s right of election, by a smooth-tongued
fellow, who sends one to the devil the moment the election is
over.’
1886. Sat. Review, No. 1587, p. 423. The public is a great
bamboozable body.
(Nautical).—To decoy the enemy by hoisting false colours—merely an
extension of the popular sense.
English Synonyms. ‘To throw dust in the eyes’; ‘to use the pepper-box’;
‘to gild the pill’; ‘to throw a tub to a whale’; ‘to make believe the
moon is made of cream cheese’; ‘to jockey’; ‘to stick’; ‘to bilk’; ‘to
do’; ‘to best’; ‘to do brown’; ‘to bounce’; ‘to take in’; ‘to kid’; ‘to
gammon.’
French Synonyms. Une monteuse de coups (a woman who bamboozles her
lovers); monter des couleurs (popular: ‘to deceive by false
representations’; couleur signifies ‘pretence,’ ‘semblance’); faire la
queue à quelqu’un (popular); tirer la carotte (thieves’); faire voir le
tour (popular); canarder (popular: literally ‘to shoot at one from a
sheltered position’; i.e., to have an advantage, and thus to be able to
hoax or humbug); dindonner (popular: from dindon, a ‘goose’); faire le
coup, or monter le coup à quelqu’un (popular: coup in French slang is
‘a secret process,’ ‘a knack’ or ‘dodge’—hence ‘to deal one an
underhand blow,’ or ‘to serve one a trick’); empaler (popular: ‘to
deceive by false representations’; literally ‘to empale’); passer des
curettes (popular: ‘to make a fool of one’); monter une gaffe (popular:
gaffe in French slang = ‘a joke’; a piece of deceit); monter le job or
jobarder (popular: job is equivalent to ‘simpleton’ or ‘flat,’ and is
the same as jobelin); mener en bateau un pante pour le refaire
(thieves’: ‘to deceive a man in order to rob him’); monter un batteau
(popular); donner un pont à faucher (thieves’: ‘to lay a trap or
snare’); promener quelqu’un (popular: ‘to make a fool of one.’ Cf., ‘to
rush’); compter des mistouffles (familiar: mistouffle = ‘a scurvy
trick’; ‘a joke’); gourrer (popular: ‘to stick’; ‘to kid’; ‘to
deceive’); affluer (from à flouer, ‘to cheat’; ‘to diddle out of’);
roustir (popular and thieves’: ‘to cheat’); affûter (thieves’: ‘to make
unlawful profits’); bouler (popular); juiffer (popular: literally ‘to
Jew’ as in English); pigeonner (familiar: ‘to do,’ ‘to pluck.’ In
English slang the victims of card and other sharpers are called
‘pigeons’); flancher (popular: ‘to laugh at’ or ‘ridicule’); faire la
barbe (popular: Cf., faire la queue); hisser un gandin (thieves’:
literally ‘to hoist a dandy’ or ‘swell’); mettre dedans (popular: to
take a rise out of one; literally to ‘take in’); être l’autre (popular:
Cf., ‘to get left.’ The phrase also signifies ‘to be the lover,’ the
mistress); planter un chou (familiar).
German Synonyms.—See Jockey.
Italian Synonyms. Traversare (literally ‘to cross over’); dar la
stolfa.
Spanish Synonym. Encantar (literally ‘to enchant,’ ‘to entertain with
soft words’).
Bambosh, subs. (nonce word).—Apparently a variation of bamboozling, as
follows. [Bam + bosh.] Humbug; deceit; hoaxing.