b. 1529. Skelton, Elynoor Rommin, in Hart. Misc. (ed. Park), I.,
417.
Upon her brain pan
Like an Egyptian
Capped about.
1608. Dekker, Belman of London, in wks. (Grosart) III., 91. The
spirit of her owne malt walkt in her brayne pan.
1609. Dekker, Gul’s Hornbook, Prœmium. Tarleton, Kemp, nor Singer
... never played the clownes more naturally then the arrantest Sot
of you all shall if hee will but boyle my Instructions in his
braine-pan.
1622. Massinger, Virgin-Martyr, ii., 2.
Oh, sir, his brain-pan is a bed of snakes,
Whose sting shoots through his eye-balls.
1817. Scott, Rob Roy, ch. xxxiii. ‘Weize a brace of balls through
his harn-pan!’
1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xi. ‘Were I your master,
sirrah, ... I would make your brain-pan, as you call it, boil over,
were you to speak a word in my presence before you were spoken to.’
Bramble, subs. (provincial slang).—In Kent a lawyer is so called;
obviously a sarcastic allusion to the ‘tangles’ of the law.
Bramble-Gelder (provincial slang).—A derisive appellation for an
agriculturist; a Suffolk term.
Bran, subs. (common).—A loaf. [In all likelihood this is a mere
abbreviation of bran-loaf.] For synonyms, see Tommy.
1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. viii. He purchased a sufficiency
of ready-dressed ham and a half-quartern loaf, or, as he himself
expressed it, ‘a fourpenny bran!’ Ibid, p. 306. Two half-quartern
brans, pound of best fresh.
Branded Ticket, subs. (nautical).—Admiral Smyth [1867] quotes this as
‘a discharge given to an infamous man, on which his character is given,
and the reason he is turned out of the service.’
Brandy Face, subs. (old).—A tippler; a drunkard, especially one whose
favourite drink is brandy.
a. 1687. Cotton, Æneid, II. Burl. (1692), 85. You goodman
brandy-face, unfist her. [M.]
Brandy-Faced, ppl. adj. (general).—Red-faced; bloated. [A reference to
the effects upon the physiognomy of excessive indulgence in
intoxicating drinks.] The expression is mentioned by Grose as early as
1785, but it is probably still older, for see quotation under
brandy-face.
1859. G. A. Sala, Tw. Round Clock, 284. Hulking labourers and
brandy-faced viragos, squabbling at tavern doors.
Brandy is Latin for Goose or For Fish, phr. (popular).—This punning
vulgarism appears first in Swift’s Polite Conversation, and Brewer thus
states the philological equation.
What is the Latin for Goose? (Answer) Brandy. The pun is on the
word answer. Anser is the Latin for goose, which brandy follows as
surely and quickly as an answer follows a question.
1738. Swift, Polite Conversation (conv. ii.). Lord Sm. Well, but
after all, Tom, can you tell me what’s Latin for a goose? Nev. O my
lord, I know that; Why, brandy is Latin for a goose, and Tace is
Latin for a candle.
1835. Marryat, Jacob Faithful, ch. xi. ‘Art thou forward in thy
learning? Canst thou tell me Latin for goose?’ ‘To be sure,’
replied Tom, ‘brandy.’
As regards the second form, namely, brandy is Latin for fish, the
origin is more obscure, although it is to some extent explained in the
following quotation.
1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, I., 125. We are told
that the thirst and uneasy feeling at the stomach, frequently
experienced after the use of the richer species of fish, have led
to the employment of spirit to this kind of food. Hence, says Dr.
Pereira, the vulgar proverb, brandy is Latin for fish.
Brandy Pawnee, subs. (Anglo-Indian).—Brandy and water. [From brandy +
Hindustan pānī, water. Cf., Parney, also a slang term for water.]
1816. Quiz, Grand Master, pref. And died at last with brandy pauny.
[M.]
1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. i. ‘I’m sorry to see you, gentlemen,
drinking brandy-pawnee,’ says he; ‘it plays the deuce with our
youngest men in India.’
1860. W. H. Russell, My Diary in India, I., p. 120. They had tiffin
at two; hot lunch and ale and brandy-pawnee.
Brandy Smash, subs. (popular).—An American drink concocted of brandy
and crushed ice. Cf., Drinks.
1862. E. MacDermott, Popular Guide to International Exhibition,
1862, p. 185. In the vestibule of each refreshment room there is an
American bar, where visitors may indulge in ‘juleps,’ ‘cocktails,’
‘cobblers,’ ‘rattlesnakes,’ ‘gum-ticklers,’ ‘eye-openers,’
‘flashes-o’-lightning,’ brandy-smashes, ‘stone-fences,’ and a
variety of similar beverages.
1869. S. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Innocents Abroad. We procured the
services of a gentleman experienced in the nomenclature of the
American bar ... a bowing, aproned Frenchman stepped forward and
said Que veulent les messieurs? Our general said (after naming
several other drinks) give us a brandy smash; the Frenchman began
to back away suspicious of the ominous vigour of the last order.
1883. Daily Telegraph, 2 July, p. 5, col. 3. [Brandy-smash is
mentioned in a list of American drinks.]
1888. New York Evening Post, 24 Feb. Philological.—Gallic
Tourist—‘I do not see how any one ever learns the absurd English. I
read on the menu of drinks, ‘Sherree Cobblair,’ I find in the
dictionary—a mender of shoes of sherry wine; ‘Santa Cruz Sour,’ La
Sainte Croix acide; brandy smash, ‘Eau de vie écrasé.’ Bête de
langue!’
Bran-Mash, subs. (military).—Bread sopped in coffee or tea. Cf.,
Floating batteries.
Brass, subs. (popular).—1. Impudence; effrontery; brass being a type of
unblushing hardness, shamelessness, etc. This colloquialism is by no
means of yesterday, having been used by Shakspeare. Sometimes rendered
bold as brass. Cf., Cheek, which also see for synonyms.
1594. Shakspeare, Love’s Labour Lost, v., 2, 395. Biron. Thus pour
the stars down plagues for perjury. Can any face of brass hold
longer out?
1701. Defoe, True Born Englishman, pt. II. By my Old Friend [The
Devil], who printed in my face A needful competence of English
brass.
1703. Farquhar, Inconstant, Act i., Sc. 2. Thou hast impudence to
set a good face upon anything; I would change half my gold for half
thy brass, with all my heart.
1740. North, Examen, p. 256. She in her defence made him appear
such a rogue upon record, that the Chief Justice wondered he had
the brass to appear in a court of justice.
1773. O. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, Act iii., Sc. 1. ‘To me
he appears the most impudent piece of brass that ever spoke with a
tongue.’
1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, p. 68. Oh, what a
face of brass was his, Who first at Congress show’d his phyz.
1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. lv., p. 462. ‘I haven’t brass
enough in my composition, to see him in this place and under this
charge.’
1876. C. H. Wall, trans. Molière, vol. I., p. 18. Gorgibus is a
simpleton, a boor, who will readily believe everything you say,
provided ... you have brass enough.
1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 199. He
started with a lot of tin, but had not sufficient brass or physique
to stand the wear-and-tear of the life.
2. (common.)—A generic term for money. At one time money was made of
brass, hence probably the slang usage. Cf., Tin.
1526. Tyndale, Matt. x., 9. Posses not golde, nor silver, nor
brasse yn youre gerdels.
1597. Hall, Satires, IV., v., 12.
Hirelings enow beside can be so base,
Tho’ we should scorn each bribing varlet’s brass.
1860. Mrs. Gaskell, Sylvia’s Lovers, ch. xx. ‘There’ll be Fosters
i’ th’ background, as one may say, to take t’ biggest share on t’
profits,’ said Bell. ‘Ay, ay, that’s but as it should be, for I
reckon they’ll ha’ to find the brass the first.’
1864. M. E. Braddon, Aurora Floyd, ch. xii. ‘Steeve’s a little too
fond of the brass to murder any of you for nothing.’
1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 129. ‘It’s noa use
they’re telling us afterwards they ain’t collared the brass.’
1889. Sporting Times, June 29. Billy Wells. What the dickens is all
this about the hats? We have seventy-two telegrams and letters on
the subject, and would prefer the brass.
Brass-Bound and Copper Fastened, adj. phr. (nautical).—Said of a lad
dressed in a midshipman’s uniform.—W. Clark Russell.
Brass-Bounder, subs. (nautical).—A midshipman.
Brasser, subs. (Christ’s Hospital).—A bully.
Brass Farthing or Farde.—The lowest limit of value.—See quots.
1642. Rogers, Naaman, 33. As bare and beggarly as if he had not one
brasse farthing. [M.]
1880. Punch’s Almanac, p. 5. Nobby button’-oler very well When one
wants to do the ’eavy swell; Otherwise don’t care not one brass
farden, For the best ever blowed in Covent Garden.
1880. Besant and Rice, Seamy Side, x., 78. I care not one brass
farthing.
Brass Knocker, subs. (vagrants’).—Broken victuals; the remains of a
meal. Specially applied by beggars to the scraps often bestowed upon
them in place of money.
Brass-Plate Merchant, subs. (common).—Explained by quotation.
1851. H. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, II., p. 95. The
brass-plate merchant, as he is called in the trade, being a person
who merely procures orders for coal, gets some merchant who buys in
the coal-market to execute them in his name, and manages to make a
living by the profits of these transactions.
Brassy, adj. (common).—Impudent; impertinent; shameless. Cf., Brass,
sense 1.
1570–76. Lambarde, Peramb. Kent (1826), 156. To make them blush ...
were they never so brassie and impudent.
1661. T. Middleton, Mayor of Quinborough, iii., 1. There’s no
gallant so brassy impudent durst undertake the words that shall
belong to’t.
1738–1819. Wolcot, P. Pindar, p. 73, ed. 1830.
No. Mr. Gattle—Betty was too brassy,
We never keep a servant that is saucy.
1862. Mrs. H. Wood, Channings, ch. xxxii. ‘I asked him to leave his
name, sir, and he said Mr. Rowland Yorke knew his name quite well
enough without having it left for him.’ ‘As brassy as that was he!
I wish to goodness it was the fashion to have a cistern in your
house roofs’!
Brazen-Faced, ppl. adj. (common).—Shameless; impudent; unblushing. With
a face as of brass, see Brass. Hotten remarks that such a person is
sometimes said to have had his face rubbed with a brass candle-stick.
1571. Golding, Calvin on Ps., xii., 5. With such brazenfaste
baldnesse.
1596. Nashe, Saffron Walden, in wks. III., 84. Amidst his impudent
brazen-fac’d defamation of Doctor Ferne.
1693. Dryden, Juvenal, III., 133. Quick-witted, brazen-fac’d, with
fluent tongues.
1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4 ed.), p. 10. Thus with an
unparallell’d Impudence every brazen-fac’d Malefactor is harden’d
in his Sin.
1874. Mrs. H. Wood, Johnny Ludlow, 1 S., viii., p. 137. ‘Of all the
impudent brazen-faced rascals that are cheating the gallows, you
must be the worst.’
Bread, subs. (old).—Employment; a transferred sense, the idea being—no
work; no food.
1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Out of bread, out of
employment.
Bread and Butter Fashion, phr. (harlotry).—An expression descriptive of
the sexual embrace.
Bread and Butter Warehouse, phr. (old).—A nickname given to the old
Ranelagh Gardens. An allusion to the scenes of infamy and debauchery
which once characterized the place.—See Bread and butter fashion.
Bread and Meat, subs. phr. (military).—The commissariat.
Bread Bags, subs. (military).—A nickname given in the army and navy to
any one connected with the victualling department, as a purser or
purveyor in the commissariat. At one time called muckers, and amongst
French soldiers riz-pain-sel.
Bread-Barge, subs. (nautical).—The distributing basket or tray
containing the rations of biscuits.
Bread-Basket, subs. (popular).—The stomach. [An obvious allusion to
that part of the body as a receptacle of food.]
English Synonyms. Bread-room; dumpling-depôt; victualling-office;
porridge-bowl.
French Synonyms. La panetière (common: properly a bag or satchel
wherein shepherds put their bread; a pouch. Akin to this is the slang
term la pantière, the mouth); panier au pain (a literal translation of
the English term); le jabot (popular: formerly heart or breast. Se
remplir le jabot = to have a ‘blow out’); la halle aux croûtes
(popular: this may be rendered literally as ‘Crust’ hall; also, a
baker’s shop); la place d’armes (popular: the place of arms, stronghold
or arsenal); la soute au pain (popular: soute = store-room, etc.; thus,
the expression would correspond closely to victualling office or
bread-basket. ‘Put that in your bread-basket’ is rendered by colle-toi
ça dans le Fusil, i.e., ‘ram that in your gun’).
Italian Synonym. The Fourbesque has fagiana (properly a chest or store
house for beans.)
1753. Foote, Englishman in Paris, Act 1. Another came up to second
time, but I let drive at the mark, made the soup-maigre rumble in
his bread-basket, and laid him sprawling.
1819. Moore, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, p. 18. Neat milling
this Round—what with clouts on the nob, Home hits in the
bread-basket, clicks in the gob.
1821. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act iii., Sc. 1. Jerry. Now,
doctor, take care of your bread-basket—eyes right, look to your
napper.
1856. Reade, Never too Late to Mend, ch. lxx. When you can’t fill
the bread-basket, shut it. Go to sleep till the Southern Cross
comes out again.
1876. C. H. Wall, trans. Molière, vol. I., p. 194. And get as a
reward an ugly piece of cold steel right through my bread-basket.
Bread-Picker, subs. (Winchester College).—The four senior præfects used
to appoint ‘Juniors’ to this office which was nominal, but which
carried with it exemption from fagging at meal times. No ‘notion’ book
states in what the office consisted, but it is supposed that it relates
to times when Juniors had to secure the bread, etc., served out for
their masters.
Bread-Room, subs. (old).—The stomach. A variant of bread-basket, which
see for synonyms.
1760–61. Smollett, Sir L. Greaves, vol. II., ch. v. He ordered the
waiter ... to ... bring along-side a short allowance of brandy or
grog, that he might cant a slug [dram] into his bread-room. Ibid,
ch. xvii. The waiter ... returned with a quartern of brandy, which
Crowe, snatching eagerly, started into his bread-room at one cant.
Bread-Room Jack, subs. (nautical).—A purser’s servant.
Break, subs. (thieves’).—A collection (of money) usually got up by a
prisoner’s friends, either to defray the expenses of his defence, or as
a ‘lift’ when leaving prison. Formerly and more generally applied to a
pause in street performances to enable the hat to be passed round. Cf.,
Lead. French slang has une bouline with the same meaning; and, to make
a collection is, among mountebanks, faire la manche.
1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., XL., 502. The mob got me up a
break (collection), and I got between five or six foont
(sovereigns).
Break Down, subs. (Australian).—1. A measure of liquor.—See quotation.
1759. Frank Fowler, Southern Lights and Shadows, p. 53. To pay for
liquor for another is to ‘stand,’ or to ‘shout,’ or to ‘sacrifice.’
The measure is called a ‘nobbler,’ or a break-down.
2. (common.)—A noisy dance; also, a convivial gathering. The term was,
at first, specially applied to a negro dance, but is now in general use
in England in a humorous sense. Also used as a verb, i.e., to break
down, to dance riotously; to be boisterous and ‘spreeish.’ For
synonyms, see Flare up.
1864. Yates, Broken to Harness, II., p. 54. And Mr. Pingle retired
into the next room, where he indulged in the steps of a comic dance
popular with burlesque actors, and known as a nigger break-down.
1873. Sat. Review, May, p. 676. We shall not be surprised to learn
that they have serious thoughts of engaging a few comic singers and
break-down dancers for their next campaign.
1883. Daily News, March 26, p. 2, col. 4. A patter song ... was
twice redemanded, chiefly, it appeared, for the sake of a comical
‘break-down’ danced by the demented king.
Break o’ Day Drum (American thieves’).—A drinking saloon which keeps
its doors open all night.
Break One’s Back, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To become bankrupt; an
extension of the figurative usage to overpower; render nugatory; crush.
1601. Shakspeare, Henry VIII., Act i., Sc. 1. Aber. I do know
Kinsmen of mine, three at the least, that have By this so sicken’d
their estates, that never They shall abound as formerly. Buck. O,
many Have broke their backs with laying manors on ’em For this
great journey.
1620. Middleton, Chaste Maid, iii., 2. [The word is here used in
the sense of bankruptcy and ruin.]
1887. Baring Gould, The Game-cocks, ch. xxviii. ‘They are very
poor, and have made a hard fight to get on. I fear this change
would break their backs.’
1888. Ashton, Mod. Street Ballads, p. 13. The cesses, rates, and
tithes nearly breaks their backs.
Break One’s Egg.—See Crack one’s egg.
Break Out All Over or In a Fresh Spot, etc., verbal phr.
(American).—Expressions in common use—in the one case conveying an idea
of completeness; and, in the other, of commencing some new undertaking,
or assuming a different position whether in an argument or action.
These usages may be traced to the phraseology of medicine.
Break Shins, verbal phr. (general).—To borrow money. Hotten thinks the
term is a variant of ‘to kick,’ formerly in use with a similar meaning.
This may be so, but it is worthy of note that ‘to shin’ is colloquial
in America in the sense of ‘to walk quickly,’ ‘to gad about’; but
having particular reference also, in mercantile phraseology, to the
action of a man who, finding himself short of money to meet his
engagements, goes round to his friends to borrow what he requires. To
bite the ear (q.v.) has the same signification; but for synonyms, see
Shins.
Break the Balls, verbal phr. (billiards).—To commence playing; a phrase
very much akin to ‘breaking ground’; indeed few verbs enter more
largely into figurative or colloquial combinations than break.
Break the Molasses Jug, verbal phr. (American).—To come to grief; to
make a mistake.
Break the Neck or Back of Anything, verbal phr. (common).—To accomplish
the major portion of a task; to be near the end of an undertaking; to
be past the middle of same.
Breaky-Leg, subs. (common).—1. Intoxicating drink of any kind. [A
humorous allusion to one of the possible effects of confirmed
drunkenness, or the weakness produced in one’s legs by tippling.] For
all synonyms, see Drinks.