Bidet, or Biddy, subs. (Winchester College).—A bath. Juniors fill these
for Præfect. The Winchester term is the French word bidet, the name
given to the low narrow bedroom bathing stools, used principally by
women, but more frequently on the Continent than in England. They are
of such a shape that they can be bestridden. In this connection it may
be mentioned, that in French bidet also signifies ‘a small horse’ or
‘pony.’
1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bidet, commonly
pronounced biddy, a kind of tub, contrived for ladies to wash
themselves, for which purpose they bestride it like a little French
pony or post horse, called in France bidets.
Bien.—See Bene.
Biff, subs. (American).—A blow. ‘To give [one] a biff in the jaw’;
Anglicé, ‘to wipe one in the chops.’ Cf., Bang, and for synonyms, see
Dig.
Biffin, subs. (familiar).—‘My biffin!’ i.e., ‘my pal!’ A biffin is
properly a dried apple: Norfolk biffins especially are considered great
delicacies.
Big. To talk or look big, phr. (familiar).—To assume a pompous style or
manner with a view to impressing others with a sense of one’s
importance; to talk boastingly. A French equivalent is se hancher.
1579. Spenser, Shep. Cal., Sept., 50.
The shepheards swayne you cannot wel ken,
But it be by his pryde, from other men:
They looken bigge as Bulls.
1604. Shakspeare, Winter’s Tale, Act iv., Sc. 3. Not a more
cowardly rogue, in all Bohemia: if you had but looked big, and spit
at him, he’d have run.
1771. Smollett, Humphry Clinker, l. 26. The squire, in all
probability, cursed his punctuality in his heart, but he affected
to talk big.
1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xv. ‘You will gain nought by
speaking big with me.’
1838. Haliburton, Clockmaker, 2 S., ch. viii. ‘He looked big, and
talked big, and altogether was a considerable big man in his own
consait.’
1855. Anthony Trollope, The Warden, p. 207. The Archdeacon waxed
wrath, talked big, and looked bigger.
Big as All Outdoors, phr. (American).—An expression intended to convey
an idea of indefinite size; hugeness; enormous capacity.
1838. Haliburton (‘Sam Slick’), The Clockmaker, 2 S., ch. ii. The
infarnal villain! Tell me who he is, and if he was big as all
outdoors, I’d walk into him. Ibid, ch. iv. He is looking as big as
all outdoors gist now, and is waitin’ for us to come to him.
Big-Bellied, adj. (colloquial).—Advanced in pregnancy.
1711. Addison [Referred to by].
1848. John Forster, Life and Times of Oliver Goldsmith, bk. II.,
ch. iv. My desires are as capricious as the big-bellied woman’s.
Big Ben, subs. (popular).—A nickname for the clock in the tower of the
Houses of Parliament at Westminster. Named after Sir Benjamin Hall, the
Commissioner of Works, under whose supervision it was constructed. It
was commenced in 1856, and finished in 1857.
1869. The Register or Mag. of Biography, p. 213. With Sir Charles
Barry’s sanction he designed the ornament cast on the Westminster
Bell, familiarly known as big Ben.
1880. Punch, No. 2039, p. 51. Big Ben struck two, and the house
adjourned.
Big Bird. To get or give the big bird, phr. (theatrical).—To be hissed
on the stage; or, conversely, to hiss. When an actor or actress gets
the big bird, it may be from two causes: either it is a compliment for
successful pourtrayal of villainy, in which case the gods (q.v.) simply
express their abhorence of the character and not of the actor; or, the
hissing may be directed against the actor, personally, for some reason
or other. The big bird is the goose. For synonyms, see Goosed.
1886. Graphic, 10 April, p. 399. To be goosed, or, as it is
sometimes phrased, to get the big bird, is occasionally a
compliment to the actor’s power of representing villainy, but more
often is disagreeably suggestive of a failure to please.
Big Bug, subs. (popular).—A person of standing or consequence, either
self-estimated or in reality. A disrespectful but common mode of
allusion to persons of wealth or with other claims to distinction.
Variants are Big-dog, Big-toad, Big-wig, and Great gun (which see for
general synonyms).
1854. Widow Bedott Papers, p. 301. Miss Samson Savage is one of the
big bugs,—that is, she’s got more money than a’most anybody else in
town.
1857. N. Y. Times, February. The free-and-easy manner in which the
hair-brained Sir Robert Peel described some of the big bugs at
Moscow has got him into difficulty.
1872. Schele de Vere, Americanisms, p. 392. Persons of great wealth
and distinction are irreverently called big bugs, and I-street, in
Washington, is thus said to be inhabited by the foreign ambassadors
and other big bugs. J. C. Neal makes a nice distinction when he
says of a rich man without social importance: ‘He is one of your
big bugs, with more money than sense.’
1888. Texas Siftings, Sep. 15. Don’t appear unduly surprised or
flustrated if, on answering the front door bell, you find Mr.
Gladstone wiping his feet on the door mat. Invite him to walk in in
a cool, collected tone of voice.... Show him you have entertained
big bugs before.
Big Country, subs. (hunting).—The open country.
Big Dog of the Tanyard, phr. (American).—A consequential, pompous
individual; one who will neither allow others a voice in any matter, or
permit dissent from his own views. The obvious derivation is from the
customary guarding of tanyards by ferocious watch-dogs. For synonyms,
see Great gun.
Big Dog with the Brass Collar, phr. (American).—The chief in any
undertaking or enterprise; a leader. A simile evidently derived from
the stable or kennel. The phrase is sometimes shortened to big dog. For
synonyms, see Great gun.
1848. J. R. Bartlett, Americanisms, p. 42. In some parts of the
country, the principal man of a place or in an undertaking is
called the big dog with a brass collar, as opposed to the little
curs not thought worthy of a collar.
1882. Alan Pinkerton, The Molly Maguires, p. 24. ‘Yes,’ said
Dormer, ‘Lawler is the big dog in these parts now; besides he kapes
a good tavern, and will see no old-timer, or young one either, for
that matther, sufferin’ from want while he can relieve him!’
Big Drink, subs. (familiar).—1. The ocean; more particularly applied to
the Atlantic. Also called the big pond, herring pond, the puddle
(q.v.).
1882. Miss Braddon, Mount Royal, ch. xiii. ‘I was coming across the
big drink as fast as a Cunard could bring me.’
2. (Western American.)—When a Western plainsman talks of the big drink,
he is always understood to mean the Mississippi river.
To take a big or long drink is to partake of liquor from a large glass.
It is very customary when calling for refreshment to state whether a
long or short drink is required.
Big Figure. To go the big figure, phr. (common).—A variant of ‘to go
the whole hog,’ or ‘to go the whole animal.’ It signifies embarking
upon an enterprise of magnitude. The phrase is mainly current in the
Southern States, and is derived from a term used in poker.
1868. Pickings from the Picayune, p. 226. When I saw that, I
thought I might as well go the big figure, you see, and so I
grabbed the bag; but mischief would have it, that just then the
policeman grabbed me and took me to the caboose.
Biggest, adj. (American).—A superlative often used in the sense of ‘the
best’ or ‘the finest.’
1848. Ruxton, Life in Far West, p. 129. The thermal springs are
regarded by the trappers as the breathing-places of his Satanic
majesty; and considered, moreover, to be the biggest kind of
medicine to be found in the mountains.
1888. Washington (Pa.) Review. The Pittsburg Times is as breezy a
journal as comes to this office. It is the biggest little paper we
are acquainted with.
Biggest Toad in the Puddle, phr. (American).—One of the many bold, if
equivocal metaphors to which the West has given rise. The biggest toad
in the puddle is the recognised leader or chief whether in politics, or
in connection with the rougher avocations of pioneer life. Equivalent
to the big dog with the brass collar (q.v.).—See also Big bug, and for
synonyms generally, Great gun.
1848. J. R. Bartlett, Americanisms, p. 42. Biggest toad in the
puddle. A Western expression for a head-man; a leader of a
political party, or of a crowd. Not an elegant expression, though
sometimes well applied. Thus a Western newspaper, in speaking of
the most prominent man engaged in the political contest for one of
the Presidential candidates before Congress, says: ‘Mr. D. D. F.—is
the biggest toad in the puddle.’
Biggin, subs. (Winchester College).—A coffee machine in two parts—a
strainer, and a coffee-pot for the infusion. It took its name from the
inventor, a Mr. Biggin, who received letters patent ‘some years’
previous to 1803. (Gent. Mag., lxxiii., p. 1094.)
Biggity, adv. (American).—Consequential; giving oneself airs. A negro
term.
c. 1884. S. L. Clemens, Life on the Mississippi, p. 511. These
railroads have made havoc with the steamboat commerce. The clerk of
our boat was a steamboat clerk before these roads were built. In
that day the influx of population was so great, and the freight
business so heavy, that the boats were not able to keep up with the
demands made upon their carrying capacity; consequently the Captain
was very independent and airy—pretty biggity as Uncle Remus would
say.
Big Gun, subs. (familiar).—A person of consequence. Possibly of
sporting origin. For synonyms, see Great gun.
1888. Texas Siftings, Oct. 13. ‘Who’s a big gun? You don’t consider
that insignificant ink-slinger across the way a big gun, do you?’
‘My wife can hardly wait to get it out of the mail,’ shouted Jones,
desperately.
Big-Head. To have a big-head, phr. (American).—1. To be conceited;
bumptious. Also applied to men or youths who are ‘cocksure’ of
everything, or affected in manner.—See also Swell-head.
1848. J. R. Bartlett, Americanisms, p. 43. Boys who smoke cigars,
chew tobacco, drink strong liquors, gamble, and treat their parents
and superiors as their inferiors—of such a boy it is said, ‘He has
got the big-head.’
1888. Texas Siftings, Oct. 20. If we were to base our calculation
upon the corpulency of his iron hat and helmet, we should say it
was a case of big-head, while his legs were long as a pair of
duplex pinchers, his arms like the fans of a windmill, his feet
like the foot of Mont Blanc, while his digital annex is like an
inverted ham.