To be in beef, phr. (old)—Said only of women. It means to have carnal
knowledge.
To be in a man’s beef, phr. (old).—To wound with a sword.—Grose.
To cry or give beef, or hot beef, phr. (thieves’).—To give an alarm; to
pursue; to set up a hue and cry. It has been suggested that beef in
this case is a rhyming synonym to ‘thief.’ For synonyms, see To guy.
To be dressed like Christmas beef, phr. (common).—To be decked out in
one’s best raiment; in allusion to the ‘dressing’ of Christmas beef by
butchers.
To make beef, phr. (thieves’).—To run away; to decamp. For synonyms,
see Amputate.
Beef! intj. (Australian).—‘Stop thief.’ Cf., To cry or give beef.
Beef up! phr. (common).—‘Put on your strength!’ ‘Give a long pull and a
strong pull!’
Beef-Brained, adj. (common).—Doltish; obtuse; thickheaded; a reference
to the heavy, dullness of appearance of oxen.
Beef-Head, subs. (common).—A dolt; a stupid, thickheaded person. Cf.,
Beef-brained.
Beef It, verb (common).—Considered originally a provincialism, but now
common. The lower classes in the East End of London frequently speak of
beefing it, either in reality or anticipation (mostly latter), when
referring to a meat meal, more particularly when it happens to be beef.
Beefment. On the beefment, adv. phr. (thieves’).—On the alert; on the
look out.
Beef-Stick, subs. (military).—The bone in a joint of beef. At mess it
is ‘first come, best served’; and those who come last sometimes get
little more than the beef-stick.
Beef Straight.—See Straight.
Beef to the Heels, like a Mullingar Heifer, phr. (Irish).—A stalwart
man, or a fine woman; i.e., one whose superiority is manifest from the
crown of the head to the sole of the foot; literally, all beef down to
the heels.
c. 1880. Rhoda Broughton, Cometh up as a Flower, p. 193. Dolly was
not a fine woman as they say, at all; not beef to the heels, by any
means; in a grazier’s eye she would have had no charm whatsoever.
Beef-Witted, adj. (common).—See Beef-brained.
1594. Nashe, Terrors of the Night, in wks. (Grosart) III., 257.
Liues there anie such slowe yce-braind beefe-witted gull.
1863. Reader, 22 Aug. This British bull-neckedness, this British
beef-wittedness. [M.]
Beefy, adj. (common).—Fleshy; unduly thick, or obese. [From beef + y: a
transferred sense.] Also beefiness, subs., fleshy development. The
ankles of women are sometimes ungallantly spoken of as beefy, with
which compare beef to the heels. A run of luck and good fortune,
generally, is likewise referred to as beefy.
1859. Sala, Gaslight and Daylight, ch. xi. To see him in his huge
shirt-sleeves, with his awkward beefy hands hanging inanely by his
side, and his great foolish mouth open.
Bee-Line. To take or make a bee-line [for a place or object], phr.
(originally American; now common).—To go direct; ‘as the crow flies’;
without circumlocution. Bees, when fully laden with pollen, make for
the hive in a straight, or bee-line. One of the American railways is
called the Bee-Line Road from the direct route it takes between its
termini. Cf., Straight shoot.
1848. J. R. Lowell, Biglow Papers.
The field of Lexin’ton where England tried
The fastest colors thet she ever dyed.
An’ Concord Bridge, thet Davis, when he came,
Found was the bee-line track to heaven an’ fame,
Ez all roads be by natur’, ef your soul
Don’t sneak thur shun-pikes so’s to save the toll.
1874. M. Collins, Frances, ch. v. How they could follow an enemy’s
trail, or strike a bee-line through unpathed woods to the point
they sought!
1875. Miss Bird, Six Mos. in Sandwich Islands, Lett. xxix., p. 275
(1886). Horses cross the sand and hummocks as nearly as possible on
a bee-line.
1884. Aldridge, Ranch Notes, p. 78. The cattle are in great dread
of this pest [the heel-fly], and the instant an animal feels one,
it hoists its tail in the air, and takes a bee-line for the nearest
water.
Beelzebub’s Paradise, subs. (popular).—Hell; the infernal regions.
Beelzebub is a frequent mis-reading for Beelzebul, the name given by
the Jews to the prince of demons. The usage occurs in the New Testament
at Matthew x., 25, and xii., 24–27, where Beelzebub should read
Beelzebul. The former is properly the god of the Philistines,
worshipped as the destroyer of flies [from Hebrew baal, lord + zebub, a
fly]; whilst the latter is an opprobrious change on the former [from
Hebrew baal, lord + zebul, dung].
Been in the Sun, adv. phr. (common).—A synonym for ‘drunk,’ in
connection with which see Screwed. An allusion to a flushed, heated
appearance.
Been Measured for a New Umbrella, phr. (American).—Said sportively of
anyone appearing in new, ill-fitting clothes, or who has struck out a
new line of action, the wisdom of which is doubtful. The joke is an old
one and refers to a man of whom it was said that nothing fitted him but
his umbrella.
Been There. Oh, yes, I’ve been there, phr. (American), i.e., ‘I know
what I am about.’ A popular exclamation. When it is said of a man that
he has been there, shrewdness, pertinacity, and experience are implied.
A variant may be found in the equally slang expression, ‘he got there
all the same.’—See Got there.
1888. Atlanta Constitution, May 4. The Japanese say: ‘A man takes a
drink; then the drink takes a drink, and next the drink takes the
man.’ Evidently the Japanese ‘have been there.’
2. Another and more invidious meaning, however, is attached to the
phrase. Women suspected of clandestine meetings with men are said to
have been there.
Beer, subs. (familiar).—To do a beer, i.e., to take a drink of beer.
1880. Punch’s Almanac, p. 3.
Quarter-day, too, no more chance of tick,
Fancy I shall ’ave to cut my stick.
Got the doldrums dreadful, that is clear,
Two d. left!—must go and do a beer!
1889. Sporting Times, July 6. It was the old tale of stony,
pebble-beached, block granite Wednesday, and money on the staff
there was none. ‘Pitcher,’ said Shifter, brushing the dust off his
tongue, ‘got enough for a beer?’ ‘Enough for a beer?’ repeated
Pitcher. ‘Good heavens, I wish I had. If Bass’s ale was a ha’penny
a barrel I couldn’t buy enough to soak a fly-paper!’
Verb.—To drink beer; also, to get drunk.
1780–6. Wolcot (‘P. Pindar’) Odes R. Acad., wks., 1794, I., 105. He
surely had been brandying it or beering, that is, in plainer
English, he was drunk. [d.]
To think no small beer [of oneself], phr. (common).—Small beer is weak
beer; hence, figuratively equivalent to a trifle. The expression, to
think no small beer of oneself, indicates, therefore, a good measure of
self-esteem.
1840. De Quincey, Style, wks. XI., 174. [I] should express her
self-esteem by the popular phrase, that she did not think small
beer of herself.
Beer and Bible, phr. (political).—An epithet applied sarcastically to a
political party which first came into prominence during the last
Beaconsfield Administration. It was called into being by a measure
introduced by the moderate Liberals in 1873, with a view to placing
certain restrictions upon the sale of intoxicating drinks. The Licensed
Victuallers, an extremely powerful association, whose influence
extended all over the kingdom, took alarm, and turned to the
Conservatives for help in opposing the bill. In the ranks of the latter
were numbered the chief brewers; the leaders of the association,
moreover, had mostly strong high church tendencies, while one of them
was president of the Exeter Hall organization. The Liberals, noting
these facts, sarcastically nicknamed this alliance the Beer and Bible
Association; the Morning Advertiser, the organ of the Licensed
Victuallers, was dubbed the Beer and Bible Gazette; and lastly,
electioneering tactics ascribed to them the war cry of beer and bible!
This so-called beer and bible interest made rapid strides: in 1870 the
Conservatives were at their low water mark among the London
constituencies; but, in 1880, they had carried seats in the City,
Westminster, Marylebone, Tower Hamlets, Greenwich, and Southwark. A
notable exception to this strange fellowship was Mr. Bass [afterwards
Lord Bass], of pale-ale fame, who held aloof from opposition to the
measure in question. Anent the nickname Beer and Bible Gazette given to
the Morning Advertiser, it may be mentioned that it had already earned
for itself a somewhat similar sobriquet. For a long time this paper
devoted one-half of its front page to notices of publicans and
tavern-keepers; while the other half was filled up with announcements
of religious books, and lists of preachers at the London churches and
chapels. This gained for the paper the equally singular sobriquet of
the ‘Gin and Gospel Gazette.’
Beer and Skittles. Generally, Not all beer and skittles, phr.
(familiar), i.e., not altogether pleasant, or couleur de rose. A tap
room simile, the allusion being to drinking beer and playing at
skittles at one and the same time.
1870. Mansfield, School-Life at Winchester College, p. 138. But
football wasn’t all beer and skittles to the Fags. There was an
institution called ‘Kicking in,’ which, while it lasted, was much
worse than ‘watching out’ at cricket, although it had the very
great merit of not continuing so long; for, even on a whole
holiday, we seldom had more than two hours of it.
1889. Pall Mall Gaz., Aug. 13, p. 6. Prince George of Wales is
‘learning his profession,’ and finds it is not all beer and
skittles. That run across the Channel into Queenstown harbour
showed our young naval officer the difference between an ironclad
and a torpedo boat. The latter is an uncommonly lively craft, and
in a choppy sea under a fresh breeze was surprisingly nimble. The
commander of No. 79 arrived in the harbour, having shown that at
least in one respect he has already something in common with the
late admiral, Lord Nelson. The officers of the Revenge had the
honour to request the pleasure of the company of the Prince and his
brother officers to breakfast. The brother officers went, His Royal
Highness spent the day in his hammock, and towards evening wrote to
his Royal Father a description of the perils of the deep.
Beer-Barrel, subs. (common).—The human body. Cf., Bacon.
Beeriness, subs., Beery, adj. (common).—Pertaining to a state of, or
approaching to drunkenness; intoxicated; fuddled with beer. For
synonyms, see Screwed.
1857. Dickens, Dorrit, bk. I., ch. viii., p. 56. The stranger was
left to the ... beery atmosphere, sawdust, pipe-lights, spittoons,
and repose.
1877. D. C. Murray, in Belgravia, July, p. 73. There was a beery
and bloated captain, resident in the inn, who had left the army, as
the rumour ran, under disreputable auspices.
1889. Modern Society, July 13, p. 838. It is a fact that does not
seem to have struck anyone, that Shakspeare’s first appearance as a
sporting tipster was in the words, ‘Lay on Macduff.’ We believe,
however, that they could at that time have got five to one against
him. So sure was the bard of his tip, that he added, in his own
classical language, ‘Damn’d be he that first cries, Hold, enough,’
which is vulgarly translated by the beery oracle of the kerbstone,
‘Put yer shirt on ’im, cuffs an’ all.’
Beer-Jerker, subs. (American).—A tippler.—See Jerker and Slinger.
Beerocracy, subs. (common).—The brewing and beer-selling interest. [A
humorous appellation in imitation of aristocracy. From beer + [o]
cracy, from Greek κρατέω, to rule, to hold.]
1881. World, 19 Jan., p. 10, col. 2. The startling mixture of
peerage and beerocracy ... was absent this time. [M.]
Beer-Slinger.—See Slinger; also Jerker.
Beeswax, subs. (old).—1. Poor, soft cheese. Sometimes called sweaty-toe
cheese (q.v.).
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—ingens
and salt here. (Calling as he fetches the porter from the side
wing, l.). Now, then, here you are, Master Grimmuzzle.
1849. Bell’s Life. [From Baumann.] A burster with a slice of
beeswax.