c. 1880. Broadside Ballad, ‘Taking out the Baby.’ Spoken—And they
had all been taking out the baby, and all had had such a doing—that
boy o’ mine nearly busted me—and of course they all think they
deserve a glass of beer.
6. (American.)—To indulge in a drunken frolic; to go on the spree. Cf.,
To go on the bust.
1869. New Orleans Picayune, Feb. 14. ‘Because I was a good-natured
fellow, I had to go with them, rollicking, teaparting,
excursioning, and busting generally.’
7. (American.)—To destroy; to commit suicide; to ‘set aside’; to
expose.
1880. Bret Harte, Chiquita, p. 22. Did you know Briggs of Tuolumne?
Busted hisself in White Pine, and blew out is brains.
1883. North of England Advertiser, Sept. 1. Then he got the Moabite
pottery which Mr. Clement Ganneau busted.
Bust me! phr. (common).—A mild oath—blow me! jigger me! (q.v.)—See also
Oaths.
1859. Dickens, Tale of Two Cities, bk. I., ch. iii. ‘Bust me if I
don’t think he’d been a drinking!’
To go on the bust, phr. (common).—To go on a frolic or spree. For
synonyms, see Paint the town red.
Buster, subs. (common).—1. A small new loaf; also a coarse cake or bun
of large size that fills or blows out the stomach of the eater. [From
bust, a vulgar form of ‘burst,’ + er.] Cf., Starver.
1821. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act ii., Sc. 3. Bob: Now,
landlord, ‘arter that ere drap of max, suppose we haves a drain o’
heavy wet, just by way of cooling our chaffers—mine’s as dry as a
chip—and, I say, do you hear, let’s have a twopenny burster, half a
quartern of beesvax, a ha’p’orth o’ ingens, and a dollop o’ salt
along vith it, vill you? Mace: Bellay! a burster and beesvax—and
salt here. (Calling as he fetches the porter from the side wing,
l.) Now, then, here you are, Master Grimmuzzle.
1841. Comic Almanacks, 1835–43 (Hotten), p. 295.
‘Cut us a slap-up slice of Cheshire cheese,
And tip’s a twopenny burster if you please.’
1849. Bell’s Life. [From Baumann.] A burster with a slice of
beeswax.
1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 192. Mo and
his man were having a great breakfast one morning at Newcastle, off
a twopenny buster and a small bit of butter, with some wishy-washy
coffee....
c. 1882. Broadside Ballad, ‘I can’t get at it.’
I can’t get at it, I can’t get at it,
I like the faggots tho’ they smell,
But now the penny’s down the well,
I can’t get at it, I can’t get at it,
I thought I’d have a ‘buster’ but it’s all no go!
2. (thieves’.)—A burglar. For synonyms, see Area-sneak. Cf., Bust,
subs., sense 2, and verb, sense 2.
1879. J. W. Horsley, ‘Autobiography of a Thief,’ in Macm. Mag.,
XL., 582. Busters and screwsmen (burglars).
3. (common.)—Anything of superior size; that has unusual capacity; that
causes admiration; a spurt. Hence to ‘come an awful buster,’ ‘to fall
heavily,’ ‘to come a cropper’; ‘in for a buster,’ prepared, ready or
determined for a spree.
1852. H. B. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, ch. x. ‘Lor, Pete,’ said
Mose, triumphantly, ‘han’t we got a buster of a breakfast!’ at the
same time catching at a fragment of the chicken.
1860. Dickens, Great Expectations, ch. vii., p. 28. ‘At such time
as when your sister is on the Ram-page, Pip,’ Joe sank his voice to
a whisper, and glanced at the door, ‘candour compels fur to admit
that she is a Buster.’
1870. Popular Song on Franco-German War.
... Thank God, my dear Augusta,
We’ve had another awful buster,
Ten thousand Frenchmen sent below,
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
c. 1880. Broadside Ballad, ‘I’ll never go courting again.’
A lawyer’s niece, next, I admired,
But brief he made my wooing spec;
To a banker’s ward then, I aspired,
But got from the banker a check (cheque).
A publican said, other measures
For his girl he’d to carry out,
And a baker he gave me a ‘buster,’
With a ‘brick,’ sent me rolling about.
4. (Australian.)—A heavy storm from the south. Otherwise called in
Sydney a brick fielder (q.v.).
1885. Household Words, 10 Oct., p. 463. In anxious expectation we
now awaited the result of this curious phenomenon of darkest night
in day, which, accustomed to the portents that sometimes herald in
the terrific busters of these southern seas, as most of us were,
all declared they had never seen it equalled.
Busting, verb, subs. (thieves’.)—Informing against accomplices; turning
Queen’s evidence. Cf., Bust, verb, sense 3. For synonyms, see Peaching.
Bustle, subs. (common).—1. A pad, roll, or wire contrivance worn by
women at the back in order to extend the dress, and also with a view to
setting off the smallness of the waist. [Origin uncertain.] For
synonyms, see Birdcage.
1788. T. Monro, in Olla Podrida, No. 40. Such locks the nymphs now
wear (in silks who rustle), In rich luxuriance reaching to the
bustle. [M.]
1835. Sketches by Boz, p. 323. Whether she was pretty, whether she
wore much bustle, etc. Ibid, p. 488. ‘Did you ever,’ said a little
coquette with a large bustle.
1857. Trollope, Barchester Towers, ch. xlv., p. 384. Bertie
finished off the countess’s bustle.