1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dict., s.v. To bucket a person is
synonymous with putting him in the well.
1828. Scott, Diary, in Lockhart (1839), ix., 253. Thurtell ... must
in slang phrase have bucketed his palls.
3. (rowing.)—To take the water unfairly—with a scoop at the beginning
of the stroke instead of a steady even pull throughout.
1876. Besant and Rice, Golden Butterfly, ch. xv., p. 130. He was
not so straight in the back as an Oxford stroke; and he bucketed
about a good deal, but he got along.
To give the bucket, phr. (old).—To dismiss from one’s employment; to
‘send a person about his business.’—Cf., Bag and Sack.
1860. Mrs. Gaskell, Sylvia’s Lovers, ch. xxi. He were sore put
about because Hester had gi’en him the bucket.
To kick the bucket, phr. (general).—To die. [The bucket here is thought
to refer to a Norfolk term for a pulley.] When pigs are killed they are
hung by their hind legs on a bucket.—For synonyms, see Aloft.
1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bucket; to kick the
bucket; to die.
1796. Wolcot (‘P. Pindar’), Tristia, wks. (1812) V., 242. Pitt has
kicked the bucket.
1840. Marryat, Poor Jack, xxx. He drained it dry ... and kicked the
bucket.
1849. Kingsley, Alton Locke, ch. ii. ‘Fine him a pot’ roared one,
‘for talking about kicking the bucket. He’s a nice young man to
keep a cove’s spirits up, and talk about a short life and a merry
one.’
1876(?). Broadside Ballad, ‘Ten Little Niggers.’
Eight little niggers never heard of heav’n,
One kicked the bucket, and then there were seven.
1889. Answers, July 27, p. 141, col. 3. The high-school girl
explained to her particular friend yesterday that He kicked the
bucket was slang, and that the polite expression was, ‘He propelled
his pedal extremities with violence against a familiar utensil used
for the transportation of water and other fluids.’
Bucket Afloat, subs. (rhyming slang).—A coat.
Bucket Shop, subs. (American).—1. Primarily a petty stock gambling den
carried on in opposition to regular exchange business, and usually of a
very doubtful character. The New York World recently investigated the
whole question, and gave some very interesting details as to the many
tortuous ways of these crooked corners of the money world. The
conclusion arrived at was that Wall Street and its vicinity did not
contain a single ‘square and honest’ bucket-shop; all their dealings
were nothing but ‘a brace gambling game.’ By their schemes the customer
had ‘not the ghost of a chance to win.’ Their quotations were obtained
surreptitiously, and, in handling them, the bucket-shop keepers in
several ways take unfair advantage of their clients. The term bucket
shop has become common in England, but, fortunately for the community
at large, no comparison can be drawn between the establishments known
by that name in England, and those which flourish in America under the
same title, though in very truth the proceedings of some of the former
are scandalous enough. [Possibly from bucket (q.v.), to cheat, + shop.
As an alternative derivation, the ‘bucket’ into which the tape falls
may be suggested.]
1887. Daily News, 14 April, 7, 1. Mr. Charles Fisher said that he
carried on business as an agent.... He did Stock Exchange business,
for clients. Mr. Besley: Commonly called a bucket shop, I think.
1888. Missouri Republican, Feb. 12. New York, Feb.
11.—(Special).—Inspector Brynes was seized with another spasm of
indignation against the bucket-shops this morning, and, accompanied
by detectives and a squad of officers, he swooped down upon the
lairs of these enemies of the Stock Exchange that abound on Lower
Broadway and New Street.
1889. Pall Mall Gazette, 12 Nov., p. 3, col. 1. ‘The tape is
credited with fostering gambling.’ ‘Well, we know that there are
bucket-shops, but we have for some time refused to entertain any
proposal for a machine if there is the least prospect of its being
used for bucket-shop purposes. There is gambling, of course, but it
is unfair to say that the tape is responsible for it. The tape was
not originated for that purpose, but in order to inform the public,
through the newspapers or otherwise, how securities were going, and
it does that. In practice it serves as a check between client and
broker, and broker and jobber.’
2. Also applied generally to low groggeries; lottery offices; gambling
dens, etc.
Buck Face, subs. (old).—A cuckold; one who in French slang is said to
be un loger rue du Croissant.
Buck Fitch, subs. (old).—An old roué; a lecherous old man.
Buckhara, subs. (American).—A name given in California to a
cattle-driver or cowboy.
Buckhorse, subs. (pugilistic).—A smart blow or box on the ear. [Derived
from the name of a celebrated ‘bruiser’ of that name. Buckhorse was a
man who either possessed or professed insensibility to pain, and who
would for a small sum allow anyone to strike him with the utmost force
on the side of the face. His real name was John Smith, and he fought in
public 1732–46.]
French Synonyms. (For the blow itself.) Une boffete (from the old word
buffet); une bouffe; une châtaigne; une accolade; une pamure. To
receive a buckhorse, encaisser un soufflet; to give a buckhorse; donner
la savate.
1864. Blackwood’s Mag., II., p. 463 (the Public Schools’ Report,
1864—Westminster School). One of the Seniors informs us that the
common punishment was buckhorsing. ‘That was boxing the ears, was
it?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Buckhorsing was rather severe, was it not?’ etc. ‘I
got buckhorsed pretty often.’
1876. Lord Albemarle, Fifty Years of my Life, quoted in Temple Bar,
August, 1884, p. 517. He then felled me to the ground by a swinging
buckhorse on my right cheek.
Buckish, adj. (old).—Foppish; dandyish. [From buck (q.v.) + ish.] Now
colloquial.
1782. D’Arblay, Diary, etc. (1876), i., 463. A buckish kind of
young man of fashion.
1785. Wolcot (‘P. Pindar’), Apolog. Postscript to Ode upon Ode, in
wks. (Dublin, 1795), vol. I., p. 365. Did not good Nathan tell that
buckish youth, David the King, that he stole sheep?
1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 57. Having beat the rounds
(as buckish spirits phrase it) of that bustling microcoser, the
British metropolis, for eighteen months.
1812. Coombe, Dr. Syntax, Picturesque, ch. xvii.
A buckish blade, who kept a horse,
To try his fortune on the course.
1858. G. Eliot, Janet’s Repentance, ch. v. ‘I’ve made him as neat
as a new pin this morning, and he says the Bishop will think him
too buckish by half.’
1873. W. D. Howells, A Chance Acquaintance, ch. xiii. A very
buckish young fellow, with a heavy black moustache and black eyes,
who wore a jaunty round hat, blue checked trousers, a white vest,
and a morning-coat of blue diagonals.
Buck-Jump, subs. (stable).—A jump made in buck (q.v., verb, sense 2)
fashion.
1864. G. A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, ch. ix. The instant the
chestnut was mounted he reared, and indulged in two or three
‘buck-jumps’ that would have made a weaker man tremble for his
backbone.
Buckle, verb, trans. and intrans. (colloquial).—1. To unite or be
united in wedlock—a humorous term. For synonyms, see Splice. French
thieves call such a union l’amadouage.
1693. Dryden, Juvenal, vi., 37. Is this an age to buckle with a
bride?
1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. lxvii. Who ... declared
himself well satisfied with the young man’s addresses, and desired
that they might be buckled with all expedition.
1822. Scott, The Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xxxii.
‘Buckle them, my Lord Bishop, as fast as you can....
‘The Bishop accordingly opened his book and commenced the marriage
ceremony.’
1857. A. Trollope, Three Clerks, ch. xlvi. ‘We could have half a
dozen married couples all separating, getting rid of their ribs and
buckling again, helter-skelter, every man to somebody else’s wife.’
Buckle-Beggar, subs. (old).—A Fleet prison ‘clergyman’; one who
celebrated marriage ceremonies therein; thence, one who celebrated
irregular marriages; a hedge priest; one who undertook similar offices
for gypsies and tramps—a buckle the beggars.—See Couple-beggar. [Of
Scotch derivation, but Cf., Buckle, verb, sense 1.]
c. 1700. Ld. Fountainhill, Diary, in Larwood, Bk. Cleric. Anecd.,
294. He after turn’d a buckle-beggar, i.e., one who married without
license. [M.]
1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xvii. (II., p. 86). A hedge
parson, or buckle-beggar, as that order of priesthood has been
irreverently termed. Ibid, ch. xxvii. (III., p. 22). Dr. R., who
buckles beggars for a tester [sixpence] and a dram of Geneva.
Buckled, ppl. adj. (thieves’).—Arrested; taken into custody;
‘scragged.’
Buckle Down, verb (common).—To ‘settle down’; to become reconciled to;
a variant of to ‘knuckle down’ (q.v.).
1874. Jos. Hatton, Clytie, bk. III., ch. iv. ‘But you do not buckle
down to your position,’ said Cuffing ... ‘you wrangle, you higgle.’
Buckler, subs. (American thieves’).—A collar. Cf., All-rounder.
Buckles, subs. (old).—Fetters of any kind. For synonyms, see Darbies.
Buckle To, verb (familiar).—To undertake; grapple with; ‘slip in’; work
vigorously.
1557. Tusser, Husbandrie, ch. xcvi., st. 84, p. 187 (E.D.S.).
Then purchase some pelfe,
by fiftie and three:
or buckle thy selfe,
a drudge for to bee.
1663. Butler, Hudibras, pt. I., ch. ii., l. 926.
And fitting it for sudden fight,
Straight drew it up, t’attack the Knight,
For getting up on stump and huckle,
He with the foe began to buckle.
1712. Arbuthnot, Hist. of John Bull, pt. IV., ch. viii. At last
Esquire South buckled to, to assist his friend Nic.
1883. James Payn, Thicket than Water, ch. xxvii. ‘Of course it
could never have been taken up as a serious occupation; the way you
buckled to at it, as I told Mr. Payton, was something amazing.’
1889. Modern Society, 19 Oct., p. 1302. (‘How the Nobility live in
Germany.’) Though, as a rule, courteous to ladies at dinner, when a
course is served all buckle to, and conversation is at an end. Each
gentleman forgets his fair neighbour, and minds only number one.
Between the courses, when nothing better is on, they converse, and
always everything is served à la Russe.
Bucksome, adj. (Winchester College).—Happy; in a state of
‘buck-uppishness.’—See Buck-up.
Buck Up, verbal phr. (Winchester College).—To be glad; pleased. Cf.,
Buck down. The usual expression is ‘Oh buck up,’ a phrase which at
Westminster School would have a very different meaning, namely, ‘exert
yourself.’ At Uppingham to be bucked (q.v.) is to be tired.
Budge, subs. (old).—1. A pickpocket; a general thief.—See quots., and
for synonyms, Area-sneak and Thieves.
1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 48 (1874). Budge,
one that steals cloaks.
1674. R. Head, Canting Acad., 95. The Budge ... his employment is
in the dark of the Evening, to go into any door that he seeth open,
and ... take whatever next cometh to hand.
2. (thieves’.)—Also called sneaking budge (q.v.). In more modern times
an accomplice who gains access to a building during the day for the
purpose of being locked in. When night comes he is thus easily able to
admit his fellow thieves. For synonyms, see Area-sneak, and Cf.,
Standing bridge.
1752. Fielding, Amelia, bk. I., ch. iii. ‘I find you are some
sneaking budge rascal’ [cant term for pilfering].
3. (old.)—Drink; liquor.—See Drinks. [Thought to be a corruption of
booze.] There are several derivatives—Budgy, ‘drunk’; Budging-ken, ‘a
public house’; Cove of the budging-ken, ‘a publican’; Budger, ‘a
drunkard’—all of which see.
1821. D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, p. 171. Budge, drink.
Verb (old slang, but now colloquial).—To move; ‘to make tracks.’ For
modern synonyms, see Amputate, and Cf., Budge-a-beake.
Budge-a-Beake, verbal phr. (old).—To run away (presumably from
justice). There seems some connection in meaning between this
expression and a modern phrase—‘to bilk the blues’ (q.v.). [From budge
(q.v.), ‘to move away,’ ‘to decamp,’ + a + beak (q.v.), a policeman.]
For synonyms, see Amputate.
1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, p. 37 (H. Club’s Repr., 1874).
Budge-a-beake, runne away.
Budger, subs. (old).—A drunkard. [From budge, subs., sense 3, ‘drink’
(q.v.) + er.] For synonyms, see Elbow crooker.
Budging-Ken, subs. (old).—A public house.—See Budge. [From budge,
drink, + ken (q.v.), a place or house.] For synonyms, see Lush crib.
1821. D. Haggart, Life, Glossary, p. 171. Budge kain, a
public-house.
Budgy, adj. (old).—Drunk; intoxicated. [From budge (q.v.), sense 3,
drink.] For synonyms, see Screwed.
Bud of Promise, subs. phr. (American).—A facetious term for a young,
unmarried woman.—See Rosebud.
1889. Charlestown Enterprise.
The young, unmarried girl, in sport,
Is called a bud of promise;
She blooms each year at some resort,
The weather when it warm is.
And in the Fall a score of men,
Whose hearts till now have harm missed,
Compare sad notes, and find out then
To each the bud is promised.
Bud Sallogh (Old Irish).—A term applied to one who practises
unmentionable vices.—See Jesuit.
Buenos Ayres (provincial).—The Royal Crescent at Margate at the extreme
end of the town used to be so called. The houses remained unfinished
for a very considerable time.—H. J. Byron.
Bufe, subs. (old cant).—A dog. [Murray says, from the sound of its
bark.]—See Buffer, and Tike for synonyms.
1567. Harman, Caveat, 84. Bufe, a dogge.
1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bufe, a dog; Bufe’s
nob, a dog’s head.
Bufe-Nabber or Napper, subs. (old).—A dog thief. [From bufe, old cant
for a ‘dog,’ + nabber, one who steals or ‘nabs.’] For synonyms, see
Area-sneak.
1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bufe-nabber, a
dog-stealer.