1835–40. Haliburton, Clockmaker, (1862), 140. As we invigorate the
form of government (as we must do, or go to the old boy).
Yellow boy, subs. (common).—A guinea; also, one pound sterling. [From
the colour.] As will be seen the term is an old one. For synonyms, see
Canary.
1663. Dryden, Wild Gallant, Act i.
How now, yellow boys, by this good light!
Sirrah, varlet, how came I by this gold?
1712. Arbuthnot, History of John Bull, pt. I., ch. vi. There wanted
not yellow boys to fee counsel, hire witnesses, and bribe juries.
1840. Dickens, Old Curiosity Shop, ch. xlii. ‘The delight of
picking up the money—the bright, shining yellow boys—and sweeping
’em into one’s pocket!’
Boys, subs. (popular).—This word is very generally in use in the
plural. Thus, bookmakers speak of their fellows, in the aggregate, as
the boys; and it must be noted as a curious fact that on race-courses
the whole army of the swindling and thieving fraternity are so
designated.
Angry or roaring boys, subs. (old).—A set of young bucks, bloods or
blades (q.v.), of noisy manners and ‘fire-eating’ tastes. Nares says
‘like the Mohawks’ (q.v.) described by the Spectator, they delighted to
commit outrages and get into quarrels. Early mention is made of such
characters. Wilson, in his Life of James I. [1653], gives an account of
their origin:—The king minding his sports, many riotous demeanours
crept into the kingdom; divers sects of vicious persons, going under
the title of roaring boys, bravadoes, roysterers, etc., commit many
insolencies; the streets swarm, night and day, with bloody quarrels,
private duels fomented, etc.
1599. Greene, Tu Quoque, Old Plays, vii., 25.
This is no angry, nor no roaring boy, but a blustering boy.
1609. Ben Jonson, Epicœne, i., 4. The doubtfulness of your phrase,
believe it, sir, would breed you a quarrel once an hour with the
terrible boys, if you should but keep ’em fellowship a day.
1610. Ben Jonson, Alchemist, iii., 4.
Sir, not so young, but I have heard some speech
Of the angry boys, and seen ’em take tobacco.
1616. Beaumont and Fletcher, Scornful Lady, iv., 1.
Get thee another nose, that will be pull’d
Off, by the angry boys, for thy conversion.
Boys of the Holy Ground, subs. phr. (old).—Formerly [1800–25] bands of
roughs infesting a well-known region in St. Giles.—See Holy Land.
1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, p. 7.
For we are the boys of the holy ground,
And we’ll dance upon nothing and turn us round.
Brace, verb (American thieves’).—To get credit by swagger.
Brace it through, phr. (American).—To succeed by dint of sheer
impudence. Cf., Brace up, ‘to gird oneself up,’ ‘to buckle to.’
Bracelets, subs. (familiar).—Handcuffs; fetters for the wrist.
[Derivation obvious.] French thieves call them les alliances, properly
‘wedding rings’; also la tartouve and les lacets. For synonyms, see
Darbies.
1661. Wit and Drollery, quoted in Disraeli Cur. of Wit. (Tom
O’Bedlams.) [Fetters are called bracelets in a song in this work.]
1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. lv., p. 371 (1874).
Fetters confined my legs from stragling, and bracelets were clapt
upon my arms.
1839. Harrison Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard (1889), p. 62. ‘Thank
you—thank you!’ faltered Jack, in a voice full of emotion. ‘I’ll
soon free you from these bracelets.’
1848. W. H. Ainsworth, James the Second, bk. I., ch. ii. ‘It may
be, young squire, you’ll have to go ... with a pair of bracelets on
your wrists, and pay your next reck’nin’ to the gov’nor of
Newgate.’
1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. v., p. 359. He travels with
other people who are also bound to London, and who, seeing him
handcuffed, know very well his steel bracelets are not the insignia
of honour.
Brace of Shakes, phr. (popular).—In a moment; ‘jiffy’; ‘twinkling of an
eye,’ etc.—See, however, Shakes. The expression is sometimes a couple,
instead of a brace of shakes. A French equivalent is far-far.
1837. Barham, I. L. (Babes in the Wood). I’ll be back in a couple
of shakes.
1868. Ouida, Under Two Flags, ch. xii. ‘But I’ve a trick with a
’oss that’ll set that sort o’ thing—if it ain’t gone too far, that
is to say—right in a brace of shakes.’
1884. Cornhill Mag., Jan., p. 101. ‘If there were any boys at
Oppingbury now like those who were here when I was young, they’d
break the window in a couple of shakes.’
Brace Up, verb (thieves’).—1. To pawn stolen goods—generally to their
utmost value.
2. (American.)—To take a drink. [A transferred sense; from brace-up =
to string up; to give firmness to.]
1888. Puck’s Library, Ap., p. 20. Come old boy, let’s brace up; a
bumper will pull you together again.
Bracket-Faced, adj. (old).—Ugly; hard-featured.—Grose.
Bracket-Mug, subs. (common).—An ugly face. [From bracket (Cf.,
Bracket-faced) + mug, a slang term for the face.] For synonyms, see
Hatchet-face.
Brads, subs. (common).—A generic term for money. De Vaux (see quot.),
though somewhat limiting the meaning, uses the term elsewhere as
equivalent to ‘pence’ or ‘coppers.’ It possibly originated among
shoemakers, brads being small rivets or nails largely employed by them.
Cf., Horse-nails, and for synonyms, Actual.
1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dict. Brads, halfpence; also money in
general.
1855. Punch, XXIX., 10. [Cf., Punch’s suggestion for a ‘fast’
partner in banks who should enquire of customers] ‘Will you take it
in flimsies, or will you have it all in tin? Come, look sharp, my
downy one, and I’ll fork out the brads like bricksy wicksy.’
1868. Brewer, Phrase and Fable, s.v. ‘B Flats.’ Four B’s, essential
for social success.—Blood, brains, brass, brads [money].—American.
1888–9. Payne, Eavesdropper, pt. II., ch. ii. They used such funny
terms: ‘brads’ and ‘dibbs’ ... at last it was borne in upon me that
they were talking about money.
Tip the brads.—See quotation and Tip.
1821. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act i., Sc. 4. [To] tip the
brads—and down with the dust, is to be at once good, great,
handsome, accomplished, and everything that’s desirable—money,
money, is your universal good,—only get into Tip Street, Jerry.
Brag, subs. (thieves’).—A usurer; a Jew. Cf., Sixty-per-cent.
Braggadocia, subs. (thieves’).—This is explained in Dickens’ Reprinted
Pieces (in a footnote) to mean three months’ imprisonment as reputed
thieves. It is difficult to trace the connection between this and the
ordinary meaning of braggadocio.
1857. Dickens, Reprinted Pieces (Three ‘Detective’ Anecdotes, The
Artful Touch), p. 253. ‘We don’t take much by this move, anyway,
for nothing’s found upon ’em, and it’s only the braggadocia after
all.’
Brain Pan, subs. (sporting).—1. The skull, or skull-cap. Also called
brain-canister. Hotten quotes the term as of pugilistic origin, but it
ante-dates the palmy days of the ‘Fancy’ by many years. Brain pan in
this sense can, perhaps, hardly be classed as slang; not so, however,
sense 2. The Scotch equivalent is harn-pan.—See quotations under sense
2.