3. (popular.)—A cavalier; lover; specially applied to a man who dangles
after a woman. Also see Tame cat.
1877. Chamb. Journal, 12 March, p. 173. Mrs. Brittomart was one of
those who never tolerated a bow-wow—a species of animal well known
in India—and never went to the hills as a ‘grass-widow.’
Bow-Wow-Mutton, subs. (old).—Dog’s flesh. [From bow-wow, a humorous
term for a dog, + mutton, here used generically for meat.]
Bow-Wow-Word, subs. (common).—A term applied sarcastically by Max
Müller to words for which it is claimed that they are in imitation of
natural sounds, i.e., onomatopoetic words, of which a full list will be
found under Cachunk.
Bowyer, subs. (old).—One who draws a ‘long bow’; a dealer in the
marvellous; a teller of improbable stories; a liar.—See Long bow.
Box, subs. (thieves’).—A prison cell.
1834. Harrison Ainsworth, Rookwood, p. 89.
In a box of the stone-jug I was born,
Of a hempen widow the kid forlorn
Fake away.
1878. Notes and Queries, 5 S., x., p. 214. The box in the stone-jug
is doubtless a cell.
Verb (Westminster School).—To take possession of; ‘to bag.’
To be in a box, phr. (common).—To be cornered; in a fix; ‘stuck’ or
‘hung up.’
To be in the wrong box, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To be out of one’s
element; to be in a false position; mistaken. Brewer traces this to
Lord Lyttelton, who, being of rather a melancholy disposition, used to
tell his friends that when he went to Vauxhall he was always supposing
pleasure to be in the next box to his, or at least that he himself was
so unhappily situated as always to be in the wrong box for it. The only
objection to be raised to this story is that the phrase is a very old
one, of which the derivation is now lost.
1554. Ridley (‘Foxe,’ 1838), vi., 438. Sir, quoth I, if you will
hear how St. Augustine expoundeth that place, you shall perceive
that you are in a wrong box.
1588. J. Udall, Distrephes, p. 31. I perceive that you and I are in
a wrong box.
1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. xliii. ‘That, I grant you,
must be confessed: doctor, I’m afraid we have got into the wrong
box.’
1836. Marryat, Midshipman Easy, ch. x. ‘Take care your rights of
man don’t get you in the wrong box—there’s no arguing on board of a
man-of-war.’
On the box, phr. (workmen’s).—A man when on strike and in receipt of
strike pay is said to be on the box.
1889. Daily News, 19 Nov., p. 6, col. 7. The ‘Blackleg’ Question
Arising. As these have to be allowed strike pay in order to keep
them out of temptation, the number of men on the box, as they say
in the North, may be taken to be a thousand.
Box Harry, verbal phr. (commercial travellers’).—Among bag-men to take
dinner and tea together; ‘dining out,’ i.e., doing without a meal at
all.
Box Hat, subs. (common).—A silk hat. For synonyms, see Cady.
Box-Irons, subs. (old).—Shoes. For synonyms, see Trotter-cases.
1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 173. Shoes. Hockey-dockies,
or Box-irons.
Box of Dominoes, subs. phr. (popular).—The mouth. [From box + dominoes
(q.v.), a slang term for the teeth.] For synonyms, see Potato-trap.
Box the Compass, verbal phr. (nautical).—To repeat in succession, or
irregularly, the thirty-two points of the compass; beginners on
accomplishing this feat are said to be able to box the compass.
1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. vi. ‘A light, good-humoured,
sensible wench, who knows very well how to box her compass.’
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp. Boxing, among sailors, is used to
denote the rehearsing the several points of the compass in their
proper order. [M.]
1836. Marryat, Midsh. Easy, xviii. I can raise a perpendicular ...
and box the compass.
1867. Smyth, Sailors’ Word Book. To box the compass. Not only to
repeat the names of the thirty-two points in order and backwards,
but also to be able to answer any and all questions respecting its
division.
Box the Jesuit, verbal phr. (old).—See Cockroaches.
Boy, subs. (popular).—1. Champagne. [A story, ben trovato, is told by
the Sporting Times of June 30, 1882, as regards the origin of the
phrase:—At a shooting party in Norfolk once, a youth was told off to
supply the company with champagne. The day being hot and the sportsmen
thirsty, cries of ‘Boy! Boy! Boy!’ were heard all day long. This
tickling the fancy of the royal and noble party, the term ‘boy’ became
applied to champagne.] Also called fiz and cham (q.v.). The latter form
is nearly reproduced in the French slang, le champ; they also brutally
speak of this wine as coco épileptique, another epithet being cidre
élégant.
1882. Punch, vol. LXXXII., p. 69, col. 2. ‘The fine young London
Gentleman.’
He will say that port and sherry his nice palate always cloy;
He’ll nothing drink but ‘B. and S.’ and big magnums of the boy;
He’s the darling of the Barmaid, and the honest waiter’s joy,
As he quaffs his Pommery ‘Extra Sec,’ his ‘Giesler’ or ‘Ivroy,’
Like a fine young London Gentleman,
Quite of the present style.
1882. Punch, vol. LXXXII., p. 155, col. 1. Dined with Tom and Corky
at a new place they had discovered, and raved of. Of course,
beastly dinner, but very good boy. Had two magnums of it.
1883. Punch, August 18, p. 84, col. 1. Shall it be B.-and-S., or
bumpers of the boy?
2. (common.)—A hump on a man’s back. In low circles it is usual to
speak of a humpbacked man as two persons—‘him and his boy,’ and from
this much coarse fun and personality are at times evolved.