1655. Fuller, Church History [1845], vol. V., p. 160. For who can
otherwise conceive but such a prince-principal of darkness must be
proportionately attended with a black guard of monstrous opinions.
The Black Guard of Satan, argues a writer in Notes and Queries [Sir J.
Emmerson Tennent, N. and Q., 1 S., vii., 78], was supposed, in the
popular view, to perform the drudgery of the kitchen and servants’ hall
in the infernal household.
1588–1628. Hobbes, Microcosmus, vol. II., p. 134. Since my lady’s
decay I am degraded from a cook, and I fear the devil himself will
entertain me but for one of his blackguards, and he shall be sure
to have his roast burnt.
Hence came the popular superstition that these goblin scullions, on
their visits to the upper world confined themselves to the servants’
apartments of the houses which they favoured with their presence, and
which at night they swept and garnished; pinching those of the maids in
their sleep who, by their laziness, had imposed such toil on their
elfin assistants; but slipping money into the shoes of the more tidy
and industrious servants whose attention to their own duties before
going to rest had spared the goblins the task of performing their share
of the drudgery. In allusion to this is Gifford’s note on Ben Jonson’s
plays [vol. II., p. 170],—
In all great houses, but particularly in the Royal Residences,
there were a number of mean dirty dependents, whose office it was
to attend the wool-yard, sculleries, etc. Of these, the most
forlorn wretches seem to have been selected to carry coals to the
kitchens, halls, etc. To this smutty regiment, who attended the
progresses, and rode in the carts with the pots and kettles, which,
with every other article of furniture, were then removed from
palace to palace, the people, in derision, gave the name of black
guards; a term since become sufficiently familiar, and never
properly explained.
Many other references also go to prove the connection in the popular
mind, so far as usage is concerned, between the two significations. In
all this, however, the peculiarly contemptuous odium attached to the
word in modern times is absent, and between the old and the modern
significations a sharp line may, as already stated, be drawn.
The earliest reference to blackguard as applied to a vagabond or loafer
occurs in 1683. Since that time the word seems gradually to have become
more and more depraved, until its present meaning of a low, worthless
fellow, one open to, and ready for any villainy has been reached. The
following quotations will well repay comparative study.
1683. MS., in Lord Steward’s Office, Windsor Castle [N. and Q., 1
S., ix., p. 15]. 7 May, Whereas of late a sort of vicious, idle,
and masterless boys and rogues, commonly called the blackguard,
with divers other lewd and loose fellowes, vagabonds, vagrants, and
wandering men and women, do usually haunt and follow the Court.
1695. Congreve, Love for Love, Act iii., Sc. 10. Or if that won’t
do, I’ll bring a Lawyer that shall out-lye the Devil: and so I’ll
try whether my black-guard or his shall get the better of the day.
1744. Nov. 26, Walpole, Lett. to Mann (1833), II., 57. The whole
stage filled with blackguards, armed with bludgeons and clubs.
1780. Parody on the Rosciad, etc., p. 13. Like him I’m a blackguard
and sot.
1788. G. A. Stevens, Adv. of a Speculist, i., 59. As black-guards
at Newmarket meeting bawl about the lists of horses.
1874. Mrs. H. Wood, Johnny Ludlow, 1 S., No. iii., p. 37. ‘I must
request you to be a little more careful in your language. You have
come amidst gentlemen here, not blackguards.’
Adj.—Of or pertaining to a blackguard; to the scum or refuse of
society; vile; vicious.
1760. Smollett, Sir L. Greaves, vol. II., ch. ix. He is become a
blackguard gaol-bird.
1803. C. K. Sharpe, in Correspondence (1888), I., 178. His friends
were ill-natured, and behaved like blackguard beasts.
Verb.—To act like a ruffian; to use filthy, scurrilous language; to
play the vagabond or scoundrel.
1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. xxix. ‘I have been called names, and
blackguarded quite sufficiently for one sitting.’
So also with other derivatives and compounds—blackguardism,
blackguardize, blackguardly, blackguardy.
1781. G. Parker, View of Society, I., 124. The talent of common
blackguardism.
1849. C. Kingsley, Alton Locke, ch. v. I was awakened by being
shoved through the folding-doors of a gin-shop, into a glare of
light and hubbub of blackguardism.
1861. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, ch. xxvi. ‘I beg your pardon, sir,
for saying that; I said it in a hurry. It was blackguardly.’
1883. William Morris, reported in Illust. London News, March 10, p.
243, col. 3. Almost all ordinary wares now made by man were
shabbily and pretentiously ugly.... Not even the pine-trees and
gardens could make the rich men’s houses at Bournemouth tolerable.
They were simply blackguardly; and even as he spoke they were being
built by the mile.
Black Hole, subs. (Anglo-Indian).—Cheltenham, from the number of
retired Anglo-Indians who live there. Cf., Asia Minor.
1878. Notes and Queries, 5 S., x., p. 234, col. 1. Gained for
Cheltenham the ... title of The Black Hole.
Black Horse, subs. (military).—A nickname of the Seventh Dragoon
Guards, so called from the regimental facings, black on scarlet.
Occasionally the epithet is shortened into The Blacks. During the reign
of George II., the corps was known as The Virgin Mary’s Guard, and is
now often called Strawboots (q.v.).
Black House, subs. (trade).—A place of business where hours are long,
and wages at starvation rates; a sweating house.
1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, III., p. 234. I have
mentioned that the black houses or linen-drapers at the west end of
London, were principally supplied from the east end.
Black Indies, subs. (old).—Newcastle-on-Tyne, from its wealth in coal.
The term is now obsolete, but it was in common use at the latter part
of the eighteenth century.
Black Jack, subs. (Winchester College).—A large leathern jug for beer,
holding two gallons. The term was not peculiar to Winchester; in olden
times Jacks were common everywhere.
(?) Simon the Cellarer. But oh, oh, oh! his nose doth show, How oft
the Black Jack to his lips doth go.
Black job, subs. (common).—A funeral. Mr. H. J. Byron, in his annotated
copy of the Slang Dictionary states ‘it was the late Lord Portsmouth’s
hobby to attend all the black jobs he could hear of.’ [From black, in
reference to the sombre trappings of funerals + job].—See Black work.
1866. Yates, Land at Last, I., p. 101. ‘What, a funeral mute?’
‘Yes, Sir, black-job business,’ etc.
Black Joke, subs. (old).—The female pudenda.—See Monosyllable for
synonyms. Said to have been the burden of an obscene song, circa 1811.
Blackleg, subs. (common).—1. A turf swindler; a rook; a welsher; also
one who cheats at cards or billiards. Origin unknown; although many
speculations have been hazarded, none are satisfactory.—See Leg.
1771. B. Parsons, Newmarket, II., 163. The frequenters of the Turf,
and numberless words of theirs are exotics everywhere else; then
how should we have been told of blacklegs, and of town-tops ...
taken in ... beat hollow, etc. [M.]
1774. Colman, Man of Business, I., in wks. (1777) II., 133.
Countesses and semptresses, lords, aldermen, blacklegs, and
Oxonians.
1812. Coombe, Dr. Syntax, Picturesque, ch. x. The crowd with their
commission pleas’d, Rudely the trembling black-leg seiz’d, Who, to
their justice forc’d to yield, Soon ran off dripping from the
field.
1830. S. Warren, Diary of a Late Physician, ch. xv. ‘Mr. T—— is
pursuing quite disgraceful courses all night and day, squandering
away his money among sharpers and blacklegs.’
2. A workman who, when his fellows are on strike, is willing to go on
working. An opprobrious term. Cf., Black-nob and Scab.
1865. Pall Mall Gazette, 29 Oct., p. 7. If the timber merchants
persist in putting on blacklegs, a serious disturbance will ensue.
[M.]
3. Also by another transference of meaning applied to any one failing,
or refusing to join his fellows in combination for a given purpose.
1889. Pall Mall Gazette, Nov. 21, p. 5, col. 1. It was stated at
the meeting that the master bakers were much behind the journeymen
in the matter of organisation, and the difficulty of maintaining
the price against unscrupulous bakers at ‘a living figure’ was
emphasized. The question of the preparation of a list of master
baker ‘blacklegs’ was also touched upon. These men are selling
bread at 4½d. the quartern, and at even a lower rate.
Verb (tailors’).—Amongst the fraternity of ‘snips,’ to blackleg is used
as synonymous with ‘to boycott’—i.e., to make things so uncomfortable
for a man that he is compelled to leave his work or the town.
To blackleg it, phr. (trades’).—Amongst trades’ union men to return to
work before the causes of a strike have been removed, or settled to the
satisfaction of the leaders.
1888. Baltimore Herald, May 6. Early this morning the mountain
paths leading to the William Pen colliery were lined with men,
dinner in hand, determined to go to work. Some were non-union
miners, while the remainder were Knights of Labor who had
determined to blackleg it, regardless of the jeers and threats of
their companions.
Black-Leggism, Black-Leggery, subs. (common).—Cheating; swindling; the
arts and practices of a blackleg (q.v.—sense 1).
1832. Maginn, in Blackwood’s Mag., XXXII., 427. From following any
profession save the Army, the Navy, Black-apronry and
Black-leggery. [M.]
Black-Man or Black Gentleman, subs. (old).—The devil. For synonyms, see
Skipper.
1606. Dekker, in Newes from Hell, in wks. (Grosart) II., 113. [Old
Nick called the Black Gentleman.]
1861. G. Meredith, Evan Harrington, ch. iii., p. 23 (1885). ‘Rich
as Crœsus, and as wicked as the black man below! as dear papa used
to say.’
Blackmans.—See Darkmans.
Black Maria, subs. (popular).—A prison van or omnibus, used for the
conveyance of prisoners. The origin of the phrase is unknown, but black
is obviously from the dark and sombre colour of Her Majesty’s Carriage
as it is sometimes jocularly called. This view is also supported by the
fact that a variant is Sable Maria (see quot.). Julian Marshall, in
Notes and Queries [6 S., vii., p. 355], suggests that the term Maria
may be allied to ‘Marinated,’ transported to some foreign plantation,
and ‘married,’ persons chained or handcuffed together, in order to be
conveyed to gaol [Grose has this, as also has the Lexicon
Balatronicum]. In marinated evident allusion is made to the compulsory
voyage; in married to the forced wedlock of convictism. Black Maria
may, therefore, possibly be a corruption of one or the other, or both
terms. A writer on slang states that the term is said to have
originated in Philadelphia in 1838, but gives no evidence in support of
the statement.
1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. ii., p. 61. On alighting
from the ‘Sable Maria’ we were ushered through a door into a long
white-washed passage, with cells on one side.
1880. G. R. Sims, Three Brass Balls, pledge xvii. It is the time
when Black Maria, the prison van, stands waiting at the door, and
the signal is given that the prisoners are coming out.
1889. Answers, Feb. 9. There are two kinds of Black Marias. One is
called the night van and the other the day. The passengers politely
term them ‘mails.’ The day van holds eighteen passengers not
including the driver and warder, and the night van a dozen. The
vans are divided into two halves, and on each side are small
compartments about two feet square with a seat and door, which is
carefully locked.
Amongst French Synonyms may be mentioned:—Le courrier du Palais (a
thieves’ term: courrier, a post or mail + Palais, an abbreviated form
of Palais de Justice, a police court or sessions house); un panier à
salade (familiar: ‘a salad basket’); le courrier de la prefecture
(thieves’: Cf., courrier du Palais. Préfecture = the office of a chief
magistrate); l’omnibus pègres (in slang un pègre signifies ‘a thief’);
un guimbard (thieves’: une guimbarde is properly ‘a long cart’); le
service du château (roughs’ and thieves’: ‘the prison service’; château
= prison).
For other synonyms, see Her Majesty’s Carriage.
Black-Monday, subs. (old).—1. A schoolboys’ term for the Monday on
which, after holidays, school re-opens. Obviously called black, from
the reluctance with which young hopefuls turn their backs upon the
sweets of home and play. Black Friday was used of the day on which
Overend, Gurney & Co., suspended payment—10 May, 1886. Cf., Blue
Monday.
1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. VIII., ch. xi. She now hated my
sight, and made home so disagreeable to me, that what is called by
school-boys black Monday was to me the whitest in the whole year.
1882. F. Anstey, Vice Versâ, ch. i. There comes a time when the
days are grudgingly counted to a blacker Monday than ever makes a
schoolboy’s heart quake within him.
2. (popular.)—The Monday on which the death penalty is carried out;
these events are generally arranged to fall on the day in question.
Black-Mummer, subs. (old).—An epithet applied to one unwashed and
unshorn.
Black-Nob, subs. (trades’ union).—A non-unionist; one who, while his
fellows are on strike, persists in working at his trade; a blackleg
(q.v.). [Apparently a humorous variant of blackleg. From black =
wicked, atrocious, + nob, the head, in place of leg in blackleg.] They
are also called knobsticks and scabs (q.v.).
Black Ointment, subs. (American thieves’).—A term for uncooked meat.
Black-Pot, subs. (old).—A toper; a tippler. [Beer mugs were called
black-pots; also black-jacks, hence, probably, a transference of the
name from the utensil to the drinker.]
1594. Greene, Fr. Bacon, v., 122. I’ll be Prince of Wales over all
the black-pots in Oxford.
1636. Heywood, Love’s Mistr., II. Iugg, what’s shee but sister to a
black-pot.
1818. Scott, Heart of Midlothian, xxxii. A whole whiskin, or
black-pot of sufficient double ale.
Black Psalm. To sing the black psalm, phr. (old).—To cry; a saying used
to children.—Grose.
Blacks.—See Black horse.
Black Sal or Suke, subs. (popular).—A kettle.—See Sukey for synonyms.
Black Saturday, subs. (workmen’s).—A Saturday on which an artisan or
mechanic has no money to take, having anticipated it by advances. Cf.,
Black Monday and Blue Monday.
Black-Sheep, subs. (common).—A mildly opprobrious term for a
scapegrace; a ‘bad lot’; ‘un mauvais sujet.’ It is also applied like
blackleg and black-nob to workmen who persist in working when their
comrades are on strike. The word is hardly slang now.
1864. Le Fanu, Uncle Silas, ch. xxvi. ‘Your Uncle Silas had injured
himself before that in the opinion of the people of his county. He
was a black sheep, in fact. Very bad stories were told and believed
of him.’
1874. M. Collins, Frances, ch. xxxvii. ‘In all cities there are
black sheep, but in a city like London, sound finance is the rule,
I am sure.’
1876. Besant and Rice, Golden Butterfly, ch. xxviii. ‘Many
companies, perfectly sound in principle, may be ruined by a sudden
decrease in the price of shares; a panic sets in, and in a few
hours the shareholders may lose all. And if you bring this about by
selling without concert with the other favoured allottees, you’ll
be called a black sheep.’
Verb (Winchester College).—When a fellow in ‘Junior Part’ got above (or
‘jockeyed’) a fellow in ‘Middle Part.’
Blacksmith’s Daughter, subs. (popular).—A key. Formerly the key with
which the doors of sponging houses were unlocked. Also Locksmith’s
daughter, which see for synonyms.
1859. C. Dickens, Tale of Two Cities. Place it under the care of
the blacksmith’s daughter.
1864. Reader [quoted in N. and Q., 5 S., ix., 263]. Blacksmith’s
daughter. A key. I have never met with this word in print, but have
heard it frequently in conversation.
Black-Spice Racket, subs. (old).—The practice of robbing chimney
sweepers of their tools, bag, and soot.—Lexicon Balatronicum.
Black Spy, subs. (old).—A cant name for the devil. The French
equivalent is le dache. For synonyms, see Skipper.
Black-Strap, subs. (common).—1. Thick, sweet port. A contemptuous term,
in allusion to its dark colour, strap being an old name for wine.—(See
quot.).
1608. Dekker, Belman of London, in wks. (Grosart) III., 131.
Sometimes likewise this Card-cheating, goes not vnder the name of
Bernard’s Lawe, but is called Batt fowling, and then ye Setter is
the Beater, the foole that is caught in the net, the bird, the
Tauerne to which they repaire to worke the Feate, is the Bush; the
wine the Strap, and the cardes the Limetwigs.
1821. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, p. 3. Tom (taking his seat):
Gentlemen, I beg pardon for being scarce so long; but having to
start early, I thought it best to see that the toggery was all
right and fly—I never shirk the black strap intentionally, you
know. Jerry: Don’t mention it, my dear Tom.
1853. Wh. Melville, Digby Grand, ch. x. The orator gets deeper into
his subject, till an extremely abrupt conclusion ... empties every
bumper of ‘black strap’ like a shot.
2. (American.)—Properly speaking, gin mixed with molasses, but
frequently applied to a compound of any alcoholic liquor with molasses.
Beverages of this description were at one time the commonest of drinks
among agricultural labourers.
1882. Pinkerton, Molly Maguires and Detectives, p. 84. From the
great iron kettle a savory incense arose; it came from an admixture
of high-wines and common molasses, in about the proportion of one
gallon of the latter to four of the spirit.... The seething
blackstrap was pronounced ready for use. It rapidly disappeared,
and, as it diminished and was imbibed, the fun and hilarity
proportionately increased.
3. (old.)—A task of labour imposed on soldiers at Gibraltar as a
punishment for small offences.—Grose.
Black’s Your Eye. To say black’s your eye, phr. (old).—To accuse; to
find fault with. The phrase was varied by black’s your eyebrow, nail,
etc. A more modern rendering is black is the white of your eye.
1528. Roy, Sat. (1845). They eate their belies full.... And none
sayth blacke is his eye. [M.]
1583. Stubbs, Anatomic of Abuses, p. 65. And then no man say blacke
is their eye, but all is well, and they as good Christians, as
those that suffer them unpunished.
1647. Beaumont and Fletcher, Love’s Cure, iii., 1. I can say
black’s your eye, though it be grey; I have conniv’d at this your
friend, and you.
1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, IX., iv. The house is well known to be a
house of as good reputation as any on the road, and, though I say
it, is frequented by gentry of the best quality, both Irish and
English. I defy anybody, to say black is my eye, for that matter.
Black-Teapot, subs. (popular).—A negro footman.
Blackwork, subs. (common).—Undertaking. The waiters met with at public
dinners are often employed during the day as mutes, etc. Omnibus and
cab drivers regard blackwork as un dernier ressort.—See Black-job.
1859. Sala, Gaslight and Daylight, ch. xxvi. A florid man who
officiates as a waiter at the London Tavern o’nights, and sometimes
takes a spell in the black work, or undertaking line of business.
Bladder of Lard, subs. (popular).—A bald-headed person. [From the
supposed similarity of the smooth, hairless cranium to a bag or bladder
of lard.]
1886. Athenæum, July 31, p. 142. An elderly Jew money-lender, whom
she afterwards describes to her admiring friends as a bladder of
lard, a graceful reference to his baldness and tendency to
stoutness.
Blade, subs. (common.)—A roysterer; a gallant; a sharp, keen fellow; a
free and easy, good fellow. [Probably from blade, a sword, a soldier.
There seems no warrant for supposing the word connected with the Dutch
bloed, or with the term ‘blood,’ a dandy, in use in the time of the
Georges in a somewhat similar sense; indeed, the following quotations
show a much older usage. In French a ‘sly blade’ is called un renaré.]
1595. Shakspeare, Romeo and Juliet, ii., 4. The pox of such antic,
lisping, affecting fantasticoes; these new tuners of accents! By
Jesu, a very good blade!—a very tall man!
1632. Chapman and Shirley, The Ball, Act iv.
This came first o’ keeping company with the blades,
From whom I learnt to roar and run away.
1636. Davenant, The Wits, Act v.
The old blade
Skulks there like a tame filcher, as he had
New stolen ’bove eggs from market-women.
1637. Fletcher, Elder Brother, I., ii.
If he be that old
Rough testy blade he always used to be.
1664. Pepys, Diary, Jan. 4. For suffering his man (a spruce blade)
to be so saucy as to strike a ball while his master was playing in
the Mall.
1667. Pepys, Diary, June 3. With his hat cocked like a fool behind,
as the present fashion among the blades is.
1698. Farquhar, Love and a Bottle, Act iv., Sc. 2. These London
blades are all stark mad; I met one about two hours ago, that had
forgot his name, and this fellow would persuade me now, that I had
forgot mine.
1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Blade (s.) ... is sometimes
used to signify a beau, spark, or hectoring fellow.
1773. O. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, Act i., Sc. 2. ‘A
troublesome old blade, to be sure; but a keeps as good wines and
beds as any in the whole country.’
1860. Dickens, Great Expectations, ch. xxiv., p. 115. ‘He forged
wills, this blade did, if he didn’t also put the supposed testators
to sleep too.’
1883. Broadside Ballad, ‘Happy Thoughts,’ st. 4.
My Uncle Dowle has lots of money;
He’s a very knowing looking blade.
Blamed, ppl. adj. (popular).—An expletive used to emphasize a
statement. It partakes of the nature of an oath, being often used
instead of ‘doomed’ or ‘damned.’ In America the expression is more of a
colloquialism than it is in England.—See Oaths.
1835. Haliburton (‘Sam Slick’), The Clockmaker, 3 S., ch. vi. Yes,
John Bull is a blamed blockhead.
1872. S. Clemens, Roughing It, ch. ix. The keeper had fired four
times at an Indian, but he said with an injured air, that the
Indian had ‘skipped’ around so’s to spile everything—and
ammunition’s blamed skurse too.
1873. Carleton, Farm Ballads, p. 18.
And so that pourin’ dissentions in our cup;
And so that blamed cow-critter was always coming up.
1888. Detroit Free Press, Oct. 6. ‘Did you see any Quakers in
Philadelphia?’ was asked of a Detroiter who lately returned from
that city. ‘Only one that I was sure of.’ ‘Did he “thee” and “thou”
you?’ ‘He did. He got down off his hack and said: “If thee don’t
pay me 2 dols. I’ll knock thy blamed head off,” and I paid,
although I knew the regular fare was twelve shillings. You don’t
want to fool with those Quakers any, and don’t you forget it.’
1888. Portland Transcript, May 9. ‘Why do you object to your
daughter marrying?’ ‘Wouldn’t object ef she wuster marry the right
sorter man.’ ‘Isn’t Tom the right sort of man?’ ‘Not by a blamed
sight.’
Blame it! intj. (common).—A round-about oath. Equivalent to ‘Damn it!’
[A transferred sense of blame.]
Blamenation! intj. (common).—Damnation!—See Oaths.
Blank, Blanked, Blankety, adj. (common).—Euphemistic oaths, the
derivation of which is clearly an outcome of the practice of
representing an oath, for decency’s sake in printing, by a dash or
blank space; e.g., d——d. The terms are used in America in many
combinations (see quots.). Cf., Oaths.
1857. C. Dickens, Farce for the Championship, in All the Year
Round. Enter a closely shaven, bullet-headed fellow in an ecstasy
of excitement at having just seen Cuss, and at the exquisite
‘fitness’ of that worthy. ‘So help me blank, blank!’ he cries
delightedly, ‘if he ain’t a blank picter with the weins in his face
down ’ere and ’ere, a showin’ out just if a blank hartist ’ad
painted him. Tell yer he’s beautiful, fine as a blank greyhound,
with a blank heavy air with him that looks blank like winnin’. Take
yer two quid to one, guv’nor,’ adds the speaker, suddenly picking
out a stout purple-faced farmer in the group of eager listeners.
1873. C. Reade, Simpleton, xxiii. Blank him! that is just like him;
the uneasy fool! [M.]
1878. Mrs. Edwardes, Jet, iii., 272. ‘——the colonel of the
regiment!’ exclaims Mark.... ‘Blank the colonel of the regiment!’
With slow, unmistakable gusto she lingers over the monosyllable
‘blank.’ [M.]
1879. Bret Harte, Gabriel Conroy, in Hallberger’s Illustrated
Magazine, vol. I., p. 378. Because you’re religious, blank you, do
you expect me to starve? Go and order supper first! Stop! Where in
blank are you going? Here you’ve been and gone three hours on an
errand for me, and blame me if you ain’t runnin’ off without a word
about it.
1888. Troy Daily Times, Feb. 3. The captain looked anxious, and an
irate fellow-passenger, who had not ceased swearing since we left
Tuxpan, declared by all that is sacred and profane that he had
known vessels to be hindered thirty days; yes, even three months,
by that blankety blankety bar!
1888. Owosso (Mich.) Press, April. ‘Doctor, I’m a dead man!’ ‘Not
right now?’ said I, as I kicked his dog out. ‘Just as good as
dead,’ said he, ‘or you wouldn’t kick that dog in that way with
safety. Not by a blankety blank blank sight.’ ‘Needn’t waste so
much profanity, Mr. Starkhill,’ said I.
Blanket. Lawful blanket, subs. (old).—A wife. For synonyms, see Dutch.
Blanket Fair, subs. (popular).—Bed. Cf., Bedfordshire, Sheet Alley, and
Land of Nod.
Blanket Hornpipe, subs. (common).—Sexual commerce. The allusion is
obvious. Cf., Basket making.
Blarmed, ppl. adj. (common).—A euphemism for blessed (q.v.); ‘damned’;
‘blowed’ (q.v.); or blamed (q.v.), of the last of which it is probably
a corruption.—See Oaths.
1867. No Church, I., 104. To be in a blarmed hurry.
1872. John Forster, Life of Dickens, ch. xxxi. (III., p. 191). He
saw a strange sensation among the angry travellers whom he had
detained so long; heard a voice exclaim, ‘I am blarmed if it ain’t
Dickens!’ and stood in the centre of a group of Five Americans!
Blarm Me! intj. (common).—A euphemistic oath.—See Blarmed.
Blarney, subs. (colloquial).—Blandishment; soft speech, or ‘sawder’;
gross flattery; ‘gammon.’ [From Castle Blarney in Ireland, in the wall
of which, difficult of access, is placed a stone. Whoever is able to
kiss this is said thereafter to be able to persuade to anything.
Blarney is from bladh-ey, flowery island, and this may have some
connection with the curious tradition. On the other hand, according to
Brewer, Cormack Macarthy held the Castle of Blarney in 1602, and
concluded an armistice with Carew, the lord president, on condition of
surrendering the fort to the English garrison. Day after day his
lordship looked for the fulfilment of the terms, but received nothing
except protocols and soft speeches, till he became the laughing-stock
of Elizabeth’s ministers, and the dupe of the lord of Blarney.]
1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. He has licked the
blarney stone; he deals in the wonderful, or tips us the traveller.
1839. Lever, Harry Lorrequer, ch. xix. They were as cunning as
foxes and could tell blarney from good sense.
c. 1876. Broadside Ballad, ‘A nice young thing.’
Such a nice young thing, such a sweet young thing,
Her name was Kate Carney, she came from Killarney,
So full of her blarney, but fond of her Barney,
Such a fair young thing, a rare young thing,
And just for a lark she had dyed her hair dark,
And they called her the Colleen Dhu.
1884. Ruskin, in Pall Mall Gazette, 17 Nov., p. 11, col. 2. It was
bombastic English blarney—not Irish. [M.]
The French have baliverne and pelotage with the same meaning.
Verb.—1. To wheedle; to coax; to flatter grossly.
2. (American thieves’.)—Besides the English slang signification of ‘to
wheedle,’ it also bears the secondary meaning, among the low and
criminal classes of America, of ‘to pick locks.’
Blart Out, verb (American, ? nonce word).—A corruption of ‘blurt out’;
to utter abruptly.
1835. Haliburton (‘Sam Slick’), The Clockmaker, pref., p. v. It
warn’t the part of a gentleman for to go and pump me arter that
fashion, and then go right off and blart it out in print. Ibid, ch.
viii. And there are others again who blart right out whatever comes
uppermost.
Blasé, adj. (common).—Used up; exhausted with enjoyment; satiated.
[From French blaser, of unknown derivation.] Its extended colloquial
use in England is explained in second quotation.
1823. Byron, Don Juan, ch. xii., st. 81. A little blasé—’tis not to
be wondered At, that his heart had got a tougher rind, And though
not vainer from his past success, No doubt his sensibilities were
less.
1883. G. A. Sala, in Illustrated London News, March 10, p. 235,
col. 3. There should be a chronology of slang. It is about forty
years ago, I think, that the great popularity of a French farce
called ‘L’Homme Blasé’ brought the word into colloquial use in
England; indeed the first translation of the French piece (at the
Princess’s, Wright, the low comedian, playing the hero,) was called
Blasé, with some sub-title that I forget. Subsequently another
translation was produced, Charles Mathews playing the principal
character. As a title for this version, we borrowed a slang term
from the Americans, and ‘L’Homme Blasé’ became ‘Used Up’!
Blast, verb (low).—To curse; to damn. An expression of reprobation and
hatred. Used in such combinations as Blast me! Blast you! Blast your
eyes! etc.—See Oaths.
1654. Chapman, Revenge for Honour, V., ii. And thus I kiss’d my
last breath. Blast you all! Ta. Damn’d desperate villain!
1752. Fielding, Amelia, bk. X., ch. v. ‘I don’t know what you mean
by ominous,’ cries the colonel; ‘but, blast my reputation, if I had
received such a letter, if I would not have searched the world to
have found the writer.’
1759. Goldsmith, Cit. of the World, lett., 105. ‘Blast me!’ cries
Tibbs, ‘if that be all, there is no need of paying for that.’
1825. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well, ch. viii. ‘Hands, Captain MacTurk!’
exclaimed Sir Bingo, in some confusion; ‘no, blast him—not so bad
as that neither.’
Blasted, ppl. adj. (low).—Execrable; confounded; often substituted for
‘damned,’ ‘bloody,’ it being thought a milder form. Grose has blasted
fellow for an abandoned rogue, and blasted brimstone for a prostitute.
[From blast, q.v.]—See Oaths.
1682. Dryden, Medal, 260. What curses on thy blasted Name will
fall.
1750. Chesterfield, Letters, 8 Jan. (1870), 169. Colonel Chartres
... who was, I believe, the most notorious blasted rascal in the
world. [M.]
1874. Pusey, Lent. Sermons, 79. Balaam after the success of his
blasted counsel. [M.]
1884. Good Words, Nov., p. 767, col. 1. Jim Black states that the
blasted railway has done away with those journeys.
Blatantation, subs. (? nonce word).—Noisy effusion; swagger. [From
blatant, noisy, offensively clamorous, + ation.] Cf., Blatancy.
1833. Graphic, Feb. 24, p. 199, col. 3. On the ground betting men
are conspicuous with their books, blatantations, blackguardism, and
swell clothes.
Blater, subs. (old).—A calf. [Probably a corruption of ‘bleater,’ from
its cry.]
1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4 ed.), p. 11 [list of cant words in].
Blater, a calf.
1827. Lytton, Pelham, ch. lxxxii. Don’t be glim-flashy; why you’d
cry beef on a blater.
Blather, subs. (familiar).—Noisy talk; voluble nonsense. Cf., Blether.
1864. E. Yates, Broken to Harness, ch. xxix., p. 309 (1873).
‘There’s a letter there from Sir Mordaunt, askin’ for more time,
and promisin’ all sorts of things; but I’m sick of him and his
blather.’
Verb.—To talk volubly; noisily; nonsensically.—See Blether.
1884. W. C. Russell, Jack’s Courtship, ch. xxiv. Mrs. O’Brien was
blathering about the pedigree of the O’Briens and the O’Shandrydans
to Mrs. Joyce.
Blatherskite, subs. (common).—1. Boastful disputatious swagger. Cf.,
Bletherskite.
2. A swaggerer; boaster; one who talks volubly and nonsensically. Cf.,
Bletherskite.
1888. New York Herald, July 29. Every blatherskite republican is
filled to the brim and spouting high protection, while the
democrats are not prepared to meet them for want of documents.
1888. Chicago Watchman. Dr. Brookes, of St. Louis, must be a nice
man to live with. He refers to Dr. R. W. Dale and Dr. Parker as
‘blatant blatherskites,’ and evidently regards Professor Drummond
as beyond reformation.
Blayney’s Bloodhounds, subs. (military).—The Eighty-ninth Foot. They
obtained this nickname during the Irish Rebellion in 1798. [Blayney,
from their Colonel’s name + Bloodhounds from their skill in tracking
Irish rebels.] They also earned for themselves the sobriquet of The
Rollickers, in allusion to the ‘jolly doggish’ bearing of the corps.
Blaze, subs. and verb (common).—In some of the usages of this word, the
precincts of slang are narrowly touched, even if the boundary line is
not crossed; as e.g., when a man is said to blaze his way through the
labyrinths of the metropolis. The original meaning is well known. The
early settlers in traversing the vast forests which abounded on the
American continent, found it very necessary to mark their route. This
they did by the simple expedient of blazing the trees at convenient
distances. Blazing consists merely in chopping a piece of the bark off
each tree selected in the desired line of march. The mark itself is
called a blaze. In addition to this, blazing was also adopted as an
indication that the land within the limits of the trees thus marked had
been appropriated by a settler—a rude and informal, but, in early days,
a thoroughly well recognised method of securing a title to the land.
Some writers affect to derive the word from the old French blazon, the
armorial bearing of the Normans, and quote the use of ‘blazen,’ by
Shakspeare, in a sense not altogether dissimilar to the meaning
conveyed by blazing, as proof to this effect.
It is employed generally in America and all English-speaking colonies.
The following quotations will exemplify its use both in the original
and more figurative senses.—See Blazes.
1737. Wesley, wks. (1872) I., 68. We then found another blaze and
pursued it. [M.]
1883. Bret Harte, In the Carquinez Woods, ch. viii. ‘I made a blaze
hereabouts to show where to leave the trail. There it is,’ he
added, pointing to a slight notch cut in the trunk of an adjoining
tree.... They proceeded cautiously at right angles with the blazed
tree for ten minutes more.
Blaze-away, intj. (common).—Look sharp; ‘stir your stumps’—an
injunction to renewed and more effective effort.
Blazer, subs. (popular).—Originally applied to the uniform of the Lady
Margaret Boat Club of St. John’s College, Cambridge, which was of a
bright red and was called a blazer. Now applied to any light jacket of
bright colour worn at cricket or other sports. Prof. Skeat [N. and Q.,
7 S., iii., 436] speaking of the Johnian blazer, says it was always of
the most brilliant scarlet, and thinks it not improbable that the fact
suggested the name which subsequently became general.
1880. Times, June 19. Men in spotless flannel, and club blazers.
[M.]
1885. Punch, June 27, p. 304. On the morning of the start for our
‘Spin to Brighton,’ Harkaway turns up clad in what he calls a
blazer, which makes him look like a nigger minstrel out for a
holiday.
1889. Daily News, Aug. 22, p. 6, col. 6. Dress by the Sea. Sir,—In
your article of to-day, under the above heading, you speak of ‘a
striped red and black blazer,’ ‘the blazer,’ also of ‘the pale
toned’ ones. This is worth noting as a case of the specific
becoming the generic. A blazer is the red flannel boating jacket,
worn by the Lady Margaret, St. John’s College, Cambridge, Boat
Club. When I was at Cambridge it meant that and nothing else. It
seems from your article that a blazer now means a coloured flannel
jacket, whether for cricket, tennis, boating, or seaside
wear.—Yours faithfully, Walter Wren.
Blazes, subs. (general).—The infernal regions. This, an allusion to the
flames of hell, was the original meaning; constant use, however, has
lessened the force of the expression, and as in the case of ‘bloody,’
few who employ such flowers of oratory have any notion of the proper
signification. In most cases the word is now a meaningless intensitive,
and takes rank with such expressions as like one o’clock, like winkey,
etc. The verb to blaze is likewise employed in a manner closely
bordering on slang. Thus one says of an action that it is a blazing
shame; that he has a blazing headache; that so-and-so is a blazing
thief; that such a job is blazing hard work; that it is a blazing hot
day—all figurative uses of the legitimate idea. Appended are
illustrations of some of its usages.
(Common.)—The brilliant habiliments of flunkeys. Derived from the
episode of Sam Weller and the ‘swarry.’
Old Blazes, subs. (common).—The devil. For synonyms, see Skipper.
1849. Southern Literary Messenger, June. He looked, upon my word,
like Old Blazes himself, with his clothing all on fire, and rage
and despair in his face.
Go to blazes, phr. (common).—Go to the devil; go to hell—expressions of
contempt used in imprecations.
1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, III., p. 135. He jumps
through a trap in the window with a bottle on it, marked ‘Old Tom,’
and a scroll falls down, written gone to blazes.
1861. Thackeray, Adventures of Philip, I., p. 99. Old Parr Street
is mined, sir—mined! And some morning we shall be blown into
blazes,—into blazes, sir, mark my words!
1862. Mrs. Riddell (‘F. G. Trafford’), Too Much Alone, p. 200. ‘Has
no one been here this afternoon?’ ‘Yes, one man, to ask his way to
blazes, or some place else.’
1880. S. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Sketch (Mr. Skae’s Item). I could
have told Johnny Skae that I would not receive his communication at
such a late hour, and to go to blazes with it.
1882. Jas. Payn, in ‘A Failure of Justice’, in Glow Worm Tales, p.
97. ‘Sir,’ cried I, authoritatively, ‘let me tell you I am a
Middlesex magistrate.’ ‘Oh, yes: a likely story!’ was his audacious
reply. ‘You’ve got ’Ighbury Barn written on your countenance you
have, go to blazes!’ and he slammed down the window.
Like blazes, adv. phr. (popular).—Vehemently; with extreme ardour.—See
Anything and Winkey.
1845. B. Disraeli, Sybil or The Two Nations, p. 330. Syllabubs like
blazes, and snapdragon as makes the flunkeys quite pale. Ibid, p.
369. ‘They pelted the police....’ ‘And cheered the red-coats like
blazes,’ said Mick. Ibid. She sets her face against gals working in
mills like blazes.
1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, III., p. 159. She
liked this very much, in fact so much, that the other little ones
used to cry like blazes because I wouldn’t let them have a turn at
them [the stilts].
1859. Chas. Dickens, Tale of Two Cities, I., p. 15 (in parts). A
blazing strange answer.
1864. J. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone or Thorough. They hate each
other like blazes.
18(?). De Quincey, Spanish Nun, sect. 24. The horse was so maddened
by the wound, and the road so steep, that he went like blazes.
How, Who, or What the blazes, phr. (popular).—A somewhat more intense
interrogatory than Who or What or even Who or What the Dickens.
1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. lv., p. 479. ‘Pell,’ he used to say to
me many a time, ‘how the blazes you can stand the head-work you do,
is a mystery to me.’
1884. W. C. Russell, Jack’s Courtship, ch. xvii. ‘Who the blazes
would recognise Jack Seymour in those shore-going duds?’
Drunk as blazes or blaizers, phr. (common).—Very drunk; what is
vulgarly called ‘beastly’ drunk. Whether this expression follows the
derivation of the examples given above, or whether we must seek its
origin in a totally different direction, is a matter of some doubt. The
alternative derivation suggested is that the phrase is really drunk as
blaizers, an expression which dates back at least to 1830 [N. and Q., 6
S., i., 434]. Sir Thomas Wyse, in Impressions of Greece, speaking (see
Life of Richard Waldo Sibthorp, by J. Fowler, 1880, p. 227) of the
reverence for St. Blaize, in Greece (who is also, as is known, the
patron saint of the English woolcombers), and how his feast was
observed in the woollen manufactories of the Midland Counties, says,
‘Those who took part in the procession were called Blaizers, and the
phrase as drunk as blaizers originated in the convivialities common on
those occasions! So good “Bishop and Martyr” Blaize is dishonoured as
well as honoured in England, and very probably in Greece.’ Further data
may be found in Chambers’ Book of Days, vol. I., pp. 219–20.
Bleach, verb (Harvard University.)—To absent oneself from morning
prayers.—Hall’s College Words and Phrases.
Bleached Mort, subs. (old).—A fair complexioned wench.—Grose. [From
bleached, white or fair, + mort, a girl or woman.]
Bleak, adj. (American thieves’).—In the phraseology of American
thieves, bleak means handsome.
Bleater, subs. (old).—The victim of a sharper or rook. In the following
quotation a Jack in the box (q.v.) is an old thieves’ term for a
swindler or cheat.
1609. Dekker, Lanthorne, wks., 1884–5, III., 290. They that are
Cheated by Iacke in a Boxe are called bleaters.
1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bleaters, those
cheated by Jack in a Box.