1821. D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, p. 171. Benjy, a vest.
Bens, subs. (American).—A workman’s slang term for his tools. In
England called alls.
Benship or Beenship, subs. (old cant).—Worship; goodness. This word,
evidently from beneship (q.v.), is given by Bailey in his Dictionary
[1728], and by Coles in 1724.
Adv. (old cant).—Very good.
1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 65. Benship, very good.
1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 37 (H. Club’s Repr.). Benship,
very good.
1665. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 47 (1874).
Benshiply, very well.
Beong, subs. (thieves’ and costermongers’).—A shilling. [From Italian
bianco, white; also the name of a silver coin.] For full list of
synonyms, see Deaner.
Beray, verb (old cant).—To defile; to befoul; to abuse.
Berkeleys, subs. (common).—A woman’s breasts. [It may be noted that in
the gypsy, berk, or burk = breast; plural, berkia.] For synonyms, see
Dairies.
Bermudas, subs. (old).—A district in London, similar to Alsatia in
Whitefriars (q.v.), and the Mint in Southwark, privileged against
arrests. The Bermudas are thought to have been certain narrow and
obscure alleys and passages north of the Strand, near Covent Garden,
and contiguous to Drury Lane; see, however, the second quotation where
the Mint would seem to be indicated.
1616. Jonson, Devil’s an Ass, II., 1. Meercraft. Engine, when did
you see my cousin Everhill? keeps he still your quarter in the
Bermudas? Eng. Yes, sir, he was writing this morning very hard.
1839. Harrison Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard, p. 12. In short, every
contrivance that ingenuity could devise was resorted to by this
horde of reprobates to secure themselves from danger or
molestation. Whitefriars had lost its privileges; Salisbury Court
and the Savoy no longer offered places of refuge to the debtor; and
it was, therefore, doubly requisite that the Island of the Bermuda
(as the Mint was termed by its occupants) should uphold its rights,
as long as it was able to do so.
As regards the derivation of the name, Nares suggests it in the actual
practice, which obtained of debtors fleeing to the Bermuda Islands,
when first discovered, to elude their creditors. This fact is alluded
to in the following. Cf., second quotation already given.
1616. Jonson, Devil’s an Ass, III., 3. There’s an old debt of
forty, I ga’ my word. For one is run away to the Bermudas.
Berthas, subs. (Stock Exchange).—The nickname in the ‘House’ and among
brokers for the ordinary stock of the London, Brighton and South Coast
Railway Company.
1889. The Rialto, Mar. 23. The week opened very badly on the Stock
Exchange, and two or three days of utter stagnation followed, but
yesterday afternoon a revival took place, which was quite dramatic
in its suddenness and vigour. Between two o’clock and the closing
of the doors at four o’clock, advances were made ranging from 2½ in
Berthas to an average of 1 in Americans. Tintos climbed to 12¼, and
even Kaffirs raised their sickly heads. All the little bulls went
home happier than they have been for three weeks.
Berwicks, subs. (Stock Exchange).—The ordinary stock of the North
Eastern Railway.
Bespeak-Night, subs. (theatrical).—A benefit.—See Ben.
Bess.—See Betty.
Bess-o’-Bedlam, subs. (old).—A lunatic vagrant.
1821. Scott, Kenilworth, ch. xxvi. ‘Why, what Bess of Bedlam is
this, would ask to see my lord on such a day as the present?’
Best. To best one, verb (common).—1. To obtain an advantage; to secure
a superior position in a contest or bargain. The meaning of to best,
therefore, is really ‘to worst.’ In this sense, not necessarily to
cheat.—See sense 2.
1863. Trafford, World in Ch., II., 77. As I am a staunch Churchman
I cannot stand quiet and see the Dissenters best the Establishment.
[M.]
1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 69. Bob
was a good salesman, but of bad temper, who if he could not get rid
of any unruly fellow by his chaffing him, would invariably turn to
Perdue and say, ‘Look at this man; I shan’t bother with him, why
don’t you get him away? He’s interrupting me and the business. I
can’t jolly him down, so you must settle and do away with him, or I
must “dry up,” for the fellow’s bested me.’
c. 1879. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 92. His intimates
were wont to say there was no trusting Cuddie Elliston, while, as
for Sam Pearson, it was a current saying that ‘No one had ever
bested him.’ Still, Yorkshire has a certain respect for this
faculty; and though Pearson was regarded as a man who carried it
rather far, and would have skinned his own brother upon occasion,
yet public opinion did not get much further regarding him than that
‘Lawyer Pearson knew his away about; and you’d to get up main early
in the morning to get a point the best of him.’
1883. Graphic, Feb. 24, p. 191, col. 1. So there are people who
will not scruple to best a railway company, who would be loth to
wrong a private person.
2. Sometimes, however, passing the ill-defined border line between
sharp practice and down-right roguery, to best is an equivalent of to
cheat; to swindle.
1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 234. His
game was besting everybody, whether it was for pounds, shillings,
or pence. At one time he cheated a poor farming man out of his
milch cow in exchange for another. The man was in liquor at the
time, and when he came to his senses he went right away to another
part of the country, and his poor wife took it so to heart that she
died shortly afterwards.
1879. Horsley, in Macmillan’s Magazine, Oct. When I went to the
fence he bested (cheated) me because I was drunk, and only gave me
£8 10s. for the lot. So the next day I went to him and asked him if
he was not going to grease my duke (put money into my hand). So he
said, ‘No.’ Then he said, ‘I will give you another half-a-quid’;
and said, ‘Do anybody, but mind they don’t do you.’ So I thought to
myself, ‘All right, my lad; you will find me as good as my master,’
and left him.
1885. May, in Fortnightly Review, Oct., p. 578. The quack broker
who piles up money by besting his clients. [M.]
To give one best (thieves’).—To leave one; to sever companionship.
1879. Horsley, in Macmillan’s Mag., Oct. While using one of those
places [concerts], I first met a sparring bloke (pugilist), who
taught me how to spar, and showed me the way to put my dukes up.
But after a time I gave him best (left him) because he used to want
to bite my ear (borrow) too often.
Bester, subs. (common).—A cheat; a swindler.—See Best, sense 2.
Generally applied to a turf or gaming blackleg.
1851. 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.
1885. Evening News, 21 September, 4, 1. The complainant called her
father a liar, ‘a bester and a crawler.’
Besting the Pistol, phr. (pedestrian).—To get away before the signal
for starting is actually given. [From besting, gaining an advantage, +
pistol, the firing of which is the signal to ‘Go!’]
1889. Polytechnic Magazine, July 7, p. 330. The third man from
scratch was evidently in too great a hurry; twice he tried to best
the pistol, and as often the whole start had to be made afresh.
Bet. You bet! intj. (American).—You may depend on it; you may be sure;
certainly! be assured! Originally a Californian phrase tacked on to an
assertion to give it additional emphasis. So popular is the expression
that it has been given as a name in the form of Ubet to a town in the
Canadian Northwest. Oftentimes it is amplified into ‘you bet your
boots,’ ‘life,’ ‘bottom dollar,’ and so on. The two former were used in
New York and Boston as far back as 1840.
c. 1882. Stavely Hill, From Home to Home. We reached the settlement
of Ubet. The name had been selected from the slang phrase so
laconically expressive of ‘You may be sure I will’.... A night
marauder took advantage of a good moon to place a ladder against a
window, hoping to secure the property of a gentleman asleep within
the chamber. As he lifted the window, and put his head in, the
gentleman woke up, and with great promptness presented his
six-shooter, shouting out ‘You get!’ With equal promptness the
detected thief exclaimed you bet! and slid down the ladder,—et
procul in tenuem ex oculis evanuit auram.
1870. Bret Harte, Poems, etc., The Tale of a Pony: Ah, here comes
Rosey’s new turn-out! Smart! You bet your life ’twas that!
1872. S. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Roughing It, ch. ii. ‘The
mosquitoes are pretty bad about here, madam!’ ‘You bet!’ ‘What did
I understand you to say, madam?’ ‘You bet!’
1888. Daily Inter-Ocean, Mar. 7. Congressional Report. Mr.
Boutelle—That is the bravery to which you refer? (Applause on the
Republican side.) Mr. O’Ferrall—Well, sir, it is the right kind of
bravery: you may bet your bottom dollar on that.
(American.)—To bet one’s eyes is a gambler’s term for an onlooker who
neither takes part in, nor bets upon the game.
Bethel, verb.—See quotation.
1740. North, Examen, p. 93. In the year 1680 Bethel and Cornish
were chosen sheriffs. The former used to walk about more like a
corn-cutter than Sheriff of London. He kept no house, but lived
upon chops, whence it is proverbial for not feasting to bethel the
city.
Be There, verbal phr. (common).—To be there is to be on the qui vive;
alive; knowing; in one’s element.
Better, adv. (vulgar).—More; without any idea of superiority. A
depraved word; once in good usage, but now regarded as a vulgarism.
1587. Fleming, Cont. Holinshed, III., p. 1382, col. 2. Woorth one
hundred and twentie pounds and better. [M.]
1679. Plot, Staffordshire (1686), p. 239. The bodies ... being
better than an inch long. [M.]
1769. Gray, in N. Nichols’ Corr. (1843), p. 87. It is better than
three weeks since I wrote to you. [M.]
1851. G. Borrow, Lavengro, ch. lxx., p. 217 (1888). Following its
windings for somewhat better than a furlong.
1854. Ainsworth, Flitch of Bacon, pt. I., ch. v. ‘Pastor of Little
Dunmow Church for fifty years and better.’
1857. Dickens, Dorrit, bk. I., ch. x., 75. ‘Yes. Rather better than
twelve years ago.’
1860. Dickens, Xmas Stories (Mess. from Sea), p. 89 (H. ed.). ‘He
shipped for his last voyage better than three years ago.’
Better Half, subs. (colloquial).—humorous term for a wife. The history
of the phrase is thus given by Murray, ‘originally my better half,
i.e., the more than half of my being; said of a very close and intimate
friend’; (Cf., ‘the better part of me’ Shaks.; ‘meæ partem animæ,’
‘animæ dimidium meæ,’ Horace; ‘animæ partem ... nostra majorem’
Statius); especially (after Sidney) used for ‘my husband’ or ‘wife’;
now, jocularly appropriated to the latter. Formerly also applied to the
soul, as the better part of man.
1580. Sidney, Arcadia, III., 280. [Argalus to Parthenia, his wife.]
My deare, my better halfe (sayd hee), I find I must now leaue thee.
[M.]
Circa 1600. Shakspeare, Sonnets, xxxix., 2.
O how thy worth with manners may I sing,
When thou art all the better part of me?
What can mine own praise to mine own self bring?
And what is’t but mine own when I praise thee.
1720. Sheffield (Duke of Buckingham), wks. (1753) I., 274. My dear
and better half is out of danger. [M.]
1842. Theodore Martin, in Fraser’s Magazine, Dec., p. 241, col. 2.
I ... shall look out for a better half. [M.]
Betting Round, ppl. adj. (racing).—Laying fairly and equally against
nearly all the horses in a race, so that no great risk can be run.
Commonly called getting round.—Hotten.
Bettor Round, subs. (racing).—One who is addicted to betting round
(q.v.).
1882. ‘Thormanby,’ Famous Racing Men, p. 75. He [John Gully] worked
on gradually as a layer of odds—a ‘bettor round,’ or ‘leg,’ as he
was called in those days. [c. 1820.]
Betty or Bess, subs. (old).—A small instrument used formerly by
burglars to force open doors and pick locks. Now called a jenny; also
jemmy; tivvil; twist; or screw. For synonyms, see Thieves, etc.
1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 47 (1874). Betty,
an instrument to break a door.
1705. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus. vol. II., pt. IX., p. 7.
So Ruffains, who, with Crows and Betties,
Break Houses, when it dark and late is.
1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bring bess and glym;
i.e., bring the instrument to force the door, and the dark
lanthorn.
1851. H. Mayhew, Lon. Lab. and Lon. Poor, IV., 339. Expert burglars
are generally equipped with good tools. They have a jemmy, a
cutter, a dozen of betties, better known as picklocks.
Verb (colloquial).—To potter about; to fuss about. Usually said of a
man assuming the domestic functions of a woman.
All betty! intj. (thieves’).—cry of warning; ‘it’s all up; the game is
lost!’
Betty Martin.—See All my eye.
Betwattled, ppl. adj. (old).—Surprised; confounded; out of one’s
senses; also bewrayed.—Grose.
Between You and Me and the Bedpost.—See Bedpost.
Bever, Bevir, Bœver, subs. (Eton, Winchester, and Westminster
Colleges).—An afternoon meal served in hall. An old time term for a
repast or snack between meals, especially in the afternoon; it is still
dialectical in some parts of England. Murray gives examples of its use
dating back to 1500.
1870. Mansfield, School-Life at Winchester College, p. 83. In
summer time we were let out of afternoon school for a short time
about four p.m., when there was a slight refection of bread and
cheese laid out in Hall. It was called beever-time, and the pieces
of bread beevers.
1884. M. Morris, in English Illustrated Magazine, Nov., p. 73. [At
Eton, we] came up from cricket in the summer afternoons for beaver.
Beverage or Bevy, subs. (old).—A tip; a vail; equivalent to the French
pourboire; money for drink, demanded, says Grose [1785], of any one
having a new suit of clothes. For synonyms, see Tip.
Beware, subs. (theatrical).—Explained by quotation.
1851–61. H. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, vol. III., p.
149. ‘We [strolling actors] call breakfast, dinner, tea, supper,
all of them “numyare”; and all beer, brandy, water, or soup, are
beware.’
B Flats, subs. (common).—Bugs. Cf., F sharps, and for synonyms, see
Norfolk Howards.
1866. Dickens, Household Words, xx., 326. Mrs. B. beheld one night
a stout negro of the flat-back tribe—known among comic writers as b
flats—stealing up towards the head of the bed.
1868. Brewer, Phrase and Fable, s.v. B flats.—Bugs. The pun is ‘B’
(the initial letter), and ‘flat,’ from the flatness of the
obnoxious insect.
Bib. To nap a bib, or one’s bib, phr. (popular).—To weep; to ‘blubber’;
to ‘snivel.’
French Synonyms. Lâcher les écluses (popular: ‘to let loose the
floodgates’; the phrase also means ‘to void urine’); pisser des yeux
(common: ‘to urinate with the eyes’); pleuvoir des châsses (thieves’:
pleuvoir = ‘to rain’; in military slang to void urine; châsse = eye);
verver (thieves’: a corrupted form of verser, ‘to pour out,’ to shed);
viauper (popular: this argotic verb also means ‘to go molrowing’ or ‘to
lead a dissolute life’); chasser des reluits (popular: chasser = ‘to
expel,’ ‘to drive out’; reluits = ‘the eyes,’ or ‘ogles’); chier des
châsses (popular: a coarse term); chigner (popular); baver des clignots
(popular: literally ‘to drivel, slaver’ or ‘slobber the eyes’—cligner
signifying ‘to wink’ or ‘blink’; hence clignots, ‘the blinkers’ or
‘winkers’); beugler (popular: properly ‘to bellow’ [like a bull]).
German Synonyms. Echen eichen (from the Hebrew echa, the first word in
the Lamentations of Jeremiah); flonen, phlonen, flannen, flaussen, or
flennen (to pull one’s mouth awry, either for laughing or crying, but
among German thieves mainly in the former sense); jalen jaulen, or
jolen machen (from the Hebrew jolal, whining; ‘to howl,’ to whine).
Italian Synonyms. Trignare (this also signifies to ‘rain’: Cf., the
French, pleuvoir des châsses); slenzare or slenzire (also ‘to urinate’:
Cf., French, lâcher les écluses); ventare (the primary slang sense of
ventare is ‘to moisten,’ hence ‘to shed tears’: properly ‘to blow,’ ‘to
be windy’); lenzare or lenzire (primarily, in a slang sense, ‘to soak,’
‘to wet’; from this the meaning is transferred to signify ‘to make
water,’ i.e., ‘to urinate,’ and also ‘to shed tears’: the word is
properly written l’ance; the derivation will be found under the French
synonyms for Adam’s ale, q.v.).
In Spanish there is one expression for ‘to cry’ which is full of
poetry—fabricar las perlas, i.e., ‘to make pearls.’ Arabs likewise
speak of tears as ‘pearls on the face.’
Bibables or Bibibles, subs. (American).—Drink, as distinguished from
food. [A coinage on the model of ‘edibles,’ ‘eatables,’ ‘drinkables,’
etc.; from Latin bib-ĕre, to drink, + able, i.e., able to be drunk.]
1860. William Howard Russell (Special Correspondent of the Times),
My Diary in India in the years 1858–9, I., p. 8. Could all the
pale-ale, soda-water, sherry, porter, and vin ordinaire, and the
feebler bibables be turned into nectar, etc.
1860. Pittsburg Despatch, Aug. The table was loaded and spread with
edibles and bibibles of every possible kind. [de v.]
Bib-All-Night, subs. (old).—A toper; a confirmed drunkard. [From
bib-ĕre, to drink, + all-night.]
1612. Sylvester, Lacrymæ Lacrymaram, p. 101. Bats, Harpies, Syrens,
Centaurs, Bib-all-nights.
Bible, subs. (nautical).—See quotations.
1867. Admiral Smyth, Sailors’ Word Book. Bible, a hand-axe; a small
holy-stone [a kind of sand-stone used in cleaning decks], so called
from seamen using them kneeling.
1883. W. Clark Russell, Sailors’ Language, p. 14. Bibles. Small
holy-stones, no doubt originally so called because they oblige
those who use them to kneel. They are also termed ‘prayer books’
for the same reason.
That’s bible, phr. (common).—That’s the truth; that’s A 1.
Bible-Carrier, subs. (vagrants’).—A person who sell songs without
singing them. Often heard in the neighbourhood of Seven Dials.
Bible-Clerk, subs. (Winchester College).—A College prefect in full
power, appointed for one week. He keeps order in school, reads the
lessons in chapel, takes round rolls (q.v.), and assists at floggings.
He is absolved from going up to books (q.v.) during his term of office.
The prefect of Hall need not act as Bible-clerk unless he likes, and
the prefect of School may choose any week he pleases; the rest take
weeks in rotation, in the order of their Chambers in College.—See
Bibler and Bibling.
1864. Blackwood’s Magazine, vol. XCV., p. 73. [At dinner] portions
of beef were served out to the boys ... the Bible-clerk meanwhile
reading a chapter from the Old Testament. Ibid, p. 87. An hour ...
is expected to be employed in working under the superintendence of
the Bible-Clerk, as the præfect in daily ‘course’ is termed, who is
responsible for a decent amount of order and silence at these
hours.
1870. Mansfield, School-Life at Winchester College, p. 103. Order
was kept during school hours by the Bible-clerk and Ostiarus, two
of the Præfects, who held these offices in rotation—the former
lasting for a week, the latter for one day only. They paraded
School armed with sticks, and brought up to the Head and Second
Masters (who alone had the power of flogging) the names of the
delinquents which had been ‘ordered’ for punishment; the names of
the more heinous offenders being confided to the Bible-clerk, the
others to the Ostiarus.
1878. Adams, Wykehamica, p. 59. There appears to have been no
regular Bible-clerk.... From this it has been inferred that the
institution of these offices must have been subsequent, and (some
think) long subsequent to the Founder’s time.
Bible-Pounder, subs. (common).—A clergyman. [From bible + pounder, from
the practice indulged in by some excitable exponents, of pounding or
beating their hands upon the book or desk while preaching.] For
synonyms, see Devil-dodger.
Bibler, subs. (Winchester College).—Now called bibling (q.v.).
1870. Mansfield, School-Life at Winchester College, p. 109. The
first time a boy’s name was ordered, the punishment was remitted on
his pleading ‘Primum tempus.’ For a more serious breach of duty, a
flogging of six cuts (a bibler) was administered, in which case the
culprit had to ‘order his name to the Bible-clerk,’ and that
individual, with the help of Ostiarius, performed the office of
Jack Ketch.
Bibler Under Nail, subs. phr. (Winchester College).—See Bibling under
nail.
1870. Mansfield, School-Life at Winchester College, p. 109. If a
boy was detected in a lie, or any very disgraceful proceeding—a
rare occurrence, I am happy to say—he had to stand up in the centre
of Junior row during the whole of the School time, immediately
preceding the infliction of the flogging; this pillory process was
called a bibler under the nail.
Bibling, subs. (Winchester College).—Formerly called a bibler (q.v.). A
flogging of six cuts on the small of the back, administered by the head
or second master. So called because the person to be operated upon
ordered (q.v.) his name to the Bible-clerk (q.v.).
1864. Blackwood’s Magazine, vol. XCV., p. 79. Underneath is the
place of execution, where delinquents are bibled. Ibid, p. 72. It
need hardly be said that it [the rod] is applied in the ordinary
fashion: six cuts forming what is technically called a bibling—on
which occasions the Bible-Clerk introduces the victim; four being
the sum of a less terrible operation called a ‘scrubbing.’
Bibling-Rod, subs. (Winchester College).—The instrument with which a
bibling (q.v.) was administered. It consisted of a handle with four
apple twigs in the end, twisted together. It is represented on ‘Aut
Disce.’ It was invented and first used by Warden Baker in 1454. It is
not used now.
Bibling Under Nail, subs. phr. (Winchester College).—A bibling (q.v.)
administered for very heinous offences after an offender had stood
under nail (q.v.).—See quot. in Bibler under nail.
Biddy, subs. (old).—1. A chicken; sometimes chick-a-biddy. Hence,
figuratively.
2. (familiar.)—A young woman, not necessarily Irish. In both these
senses the word appears in Grose [1785]. Since that time it would seem
to have changed somewhat in meaning as follows.