Chapter IV: Preface: To the First Edition (3)

“Money,” it has been well remarked, “the bare, simple word itself, has a sonorous, significant ring in its sound,” and might have sufficed, one would have imagined, for all ordinary purposes. But a vulgar or “fast” society has thought differently, and so we have the Slang synonymes BEANS, BLUNT, (_i.e._, specie,—not _stiff_ or _rags_, bank notes), BRADS, BRASS, BUSTLE, COPPERS (copper money, or mixed pence), CHINK, CHINKERS, CHIPS, CORKS, DIBBS, DINARLY, DIMMOCK, DUST, FEATHERS, GENT (silver,—from _argent_), HADDOCK (a purse of money), HORSE NAILS, LOAVER, LOUR (the oldest Cant term for money), MOPUSSES, NEEDFUL, NOBBINGS (money collected in a hat by street performers), OCHRE (gold), PEWTER, PALM OIL, QUEEN’S PICTURES, QUIDS, RAGS (bank notes), READY, or READY GILT, REDGE (gold), RHINO, ROWDY, SHINERS (sovereigns), SKIN (a purse of money), STIFF (paper, or bill of acceptance), STUFF, STUMPY, TIN (silver), WEDGE (silver), and YELLOW-BOYS (sovereigns);—just forty-two vulgar equivalents for the simple word _money_. So attentive is Slang speech to financial matters, that there are seven terms for bad, or “bogus” coin (as our friends, the Americans, call it): a CASE is a counterfeit five-shilling piece; HALF A CASE represents half that sum; GRAYS are halfpence made double for gambling purposes; QUEER-SOFT is counterfeit or lead coin; SCHOFEL refers to coated or spurious coin; SHEEN is bad money of any description; and SINKERS bears the same and not inappropriate meaning. FLYING THE KITE, or obtaining money on bills and promissory notes, is a curious allusion to children tossing about a paper kite; and RAISING THE WIND is a well-known phrase for procuring money by immediate sale, pledging, or a forced loan. In winter or in summer any elderly gentleman who may have prospered in life is pronounced WARM; whilst an equivalent is immediately at hand in the phrase “his pockets are well LINED.” Each separate piece of money has its own Slang term, and often half a score of synonymes. To begin with that extremely humble coin, a _farthing_: first we have FADGE, then FIDDLER, then GIG, and lastly QUARTEREEN. A _halfpenny_ is a BROWN or a MADZA SALTEE (Cant), or a MAG, or a POSH, or a RAP,—whence the popular phrase, “I don’t care a _rap_.” The useful and universal _penny_ has for Slang equivalents a COPPER, a SALTEE (Cant), and a WINN. _Two-pence_ is a DEUCE, and _three-pence_ is either a THRUMS or a THRUPS. _Four-pence_, or a _groat_, may in vulgar speech he termed a BIT, a FLAG, or a JOEY. _Six-pence_ is well represented in street talk, and some of the Slangisms are very comical, for instance, BANDY, BENDER, CRIPPLE, and DOWNER; then we have FYE-BUCK, HALF A HOG, KICK (thus “two and a kick,” or 2s. 6d.), LORD OF THE MANOR, PIG, POT (the price of a _pot_ of beer), SNID, SPRAT, SOW’S BABY, TANNER, TESTER, TIZZY,—sixteen vulgar words to one coin. _Seven-pence_ being an uncommon amount has only one Slang synonyme, SETTER. The same remark applies to _eight-pence_ and _nine-pence_, the former being only represented by OTTER, and the latter by the Cant phrase, NOBBA-SALTEE. _Ten-pence_ is DACHA-SALTEE, and _eleven-pence_ DACHA-ONE,—both Cant expressions. _One shilling_ boasts ten Slang equivalents; thus we have BEONG, BOB, BREAKY-LEG, DEANER, GEN (either from _argent_, silver, or the back slang), HOG, PEG, STAG, TEVISS, and TWELVER. _Half-a-crown_ is known as an ALDERMAN, HALF A BULL, HALF A TUSHEROON, and a MADZA CAROON; whilst a _crown_ piece, or _five shillings_, may be called either a BULL, or a CAROON, or a CARTWHEEL, or a COACHWHEEL, or a THICK-UN, or a TUSHEROON. The next advance in Slang money is _ten shillings_, or _half-a-sovereign_, which may be either pronounced as HALF A BEAN, HALF A COUTER, a MADZA POONA, or HALF A QUID. A _sovereign_, or _twenty shillings_, is a BEAN, CANARY, COUTER, FOONT, GOLDFINCH, JAMES, POONA, QUID, a THICK-UN, or a YELLOW-BOY. _Guineas_ are nearly obsolete, yet the terms NEDS, and HALF NEDS, are still in use. Bank notes are FLIMSIES, LONG-TAILED ONES, or SOFT. A FINUF is a five-pound note. One hundred pounds (or any other “round sum”) quietly handed over as payment for services performed is curiously termed “a COOL hundred.” Thus ends, with several omissions, this long list of Slang terms for the coins of the realm, which for copiousness, I will engage to say, is not equalled by any other vulgar or unauthorised language in Europe.

The antiquity of many of these Slang names is remarkable. WINN was the vulgar term for a penny in the days of Queen Elizabeth; and TESTER, a sixpence (formerly a shilling), was the correct name in the days of Henry the Eighth. The reader, too, will have remarked the frequency of animals’ names as Slang terms for money. Little, as a modern writer has remarked, do the persons using these phrases know of their remote and somewhat classical origin, which may, indeed, be traced to the period antecedent to that when monarchs monopolised the surface of coined money with their own image and superscriptions. They are identical with the very name of money among the early Romans, which was _pecunia_, from _pecus_, a flock. The collections of coin dealers amply show that the figure of a HOG was anciently placed on a small silver coin; and that that of a BULL decorated larger ones of the same metal. These coins were frequently deeply crossed on the reverse; this was for the convenience of easily breaking them into two or more pieces, should the bargain for which they were employed require it, and the parties making it had no smaller change handy to complete the transaction. Thus we find that the HALF BULL of the itinerant street seller, or “traveller,”[55] so far from being a phrase of modern invention, as is generally supposed, is in point of fact referable to an era extremely remote. There are many other Cant words directly from a classic source, as will be seen in the Dictionary.

_Shopkeepers’ Slang_ is, perhaps, the most offensive of all Slang. It is not a casual eyesore, as newspaper Slang, neither is it an occasional discomfort to the ear, as in the case of some vulgar byeword of the street; but it is a perpetual nuisance, and stares you in the face on tradesmen’s invoices, on labels in the shop-windows, and placards on the hoardings, in posters against the house next to your own door—if it happens to be empty for a few weeks,—and in bills thrust into your hand, as you peaceably walk through the streets. Under your doors, and down your area, Slang hand-bills are dropped by some PUSHING tradesman, and for the thousandth time you are called upon to learn that an ALARMING SACRIFICE is taking place in the next street, that prices are DOWN AGAIN, that in consequence of some other tradesman not DRIVING a ROARING TRADE, being in fact SOLD UP, and for the time being a resident in BURDON’S HOTEL (Whitecross-street Prison), the PUSHING tradesman wishes to sell out at AWFULLY LOW PRICES, “to the kind patrons, and numerous customers,” &c. &c., “that have on every occasion,” &c. &c. In this Slang any occupation or calling is termed a LINE,—thus the “Building-LINE.” A tailor usurps to himself a good deal of Slang. Amongst operatives he is called a SNIP, or a STEEL BAR DRIVER; by the world, a NINTH PART OF A MAN; and by the young collegian, or “fast” man, a SUFFERER. If he takes army contracts, it is SANK WORK; if he is a SLOP tailor, he is a SPRINGER UP, and his garments are BLOWN TOGETHER. Perquisites with him are SPIFFS, and remnants of cloth, PEAKING. The percentage he allows to his assistants (or COUNTER JUMPERS) on the sale of old-fashioned articles, is termed TINGE. If he pays his workmen in goods, or gives them tickets upon other tradesmen, with whom he shares the profit, he is soon known as a TOMMY MASTER. If his business succeeds, it TAKES; if neglected, it becomes SHAKY, and GOES TO POT; if he is deceived by a creditor (a not by any means unusual circumstance) he is LET IN, or, as it is sometimes varied, TAKEN IN. I need scarcely remark that any credit he may give is termed TICK.

_Operatives’ or Workmen’s Slang_, in quality, is but slightly removed from tradesmen’s Slang. When belonging to the same shop or factory, they GRAFT there, and are BROTHER CHIPS. They generally dine at SLAP BANG SHOPS, and are often paid at TOMMY SHOPS. At the nearest PUB, or public-house, they generally have a SCORE CHALKED UP against them, which has to be WIPED OFF regularly on the Saturday night. When out of work, they borrow a word from the flunkey vocabulary, and describe themselves as being OUT OF COLLAR. They term each other FLINTS and DUNGS, if they are “society” or “non-society” men. Their salary is a SCREW, and to be discharged is to GET THE SACK. When they quit work, they KNOCK OFF; and when out of employ, they ask if any HANDS are wanted. FAT is the vulgar synonyme for perquisites; ELBOW-GREASE signifies labour; and SAINT MONDAY is the favourite day of the week. Names of animals figure plentifully in the workman’s vocabulary; thus we have GOOSE, a tailor’s smoothing iron; SHEEP’S-FOOT, an iron hammer; SOW, a receptacle for molten iron, whilst the metal poured from it is termed PIG. I have often thought that many of the Slang terms for money originally came from the workshop, thus—BRADS, from the ironmonger; CHIPS, from the carpenter; DUST, from the goldsmith; FEATHERS, from the upholsterer; HORSE NAILS, from the farrier; HADDOCK, from the fishmonger; and TANNER, from the leather-dresser. The subject is curious. Allow me to call the attention of numismatists to it.

There yet remain several distinct divisions of Slang to be examined;—the Slang of the _stable_, or _jockey_ Slang; the Slang of the _prize ring_; the Slang of _servitude_, or _flunkeydom_; vulgar, or _street_ Slang; the Slang of _softened oaths_; and the Slang of _intoxication_. I shall only examine the last two. If society, as has been remarked, is a sham, from the vulgar foundation of commonalty to the crowning summit of royalty, especially do we perceive the justness of the remark in the Slang makeshifts for oaths, and sham exclamations for passion and temper. These apologies for feeling are a disgrace to our vernacular, although it is some satisfaction to know that they serve the purpose of reducing the stock of national profanity. “You BE BLOWED,” or “I’ll BE BLOWED IF,” &c., is an exclamation often heard in the streets. BLAZES, or “like BLAZES,” came probably from the army. BLAST, too, although in general vulgar use, may have had a like origin; so may the phrase, “I wish I may be SHOT, if,” &c. BLOW ME TIGHT, is a very windy and common exclamation. The same may be said of STRIKE ME LUCKY, NEVER TRUST ME, and SO HELP ME DAVY; the latter derived from the truer old phrase, I’LL TAKE MY DAVY ON’T, _i.e._, my _affidavit_, DAVY being a corruption of that word. BY GOLLY, GOL DARN IT, and SO HELP ME BOB, are evident shams for profane oaths. NATION is but a softening of _damnation_; and OD, whether used in OD DRAT IT, or OD’S BLOOD, is but an apology for the name of the Deity. The Irish phrase, BAD SCRAN TO YER! is equivalent to wishing a person bad food. “I’m SNIGGERED if you will,” and “I’m JIGGERED,” are other stupid forms of mild swearing,—fearful of committing an open profanity, yet slyly nibbling at the sin. Both DEUCE and DICKENS are vulgar old synonymes for the devil; and ZOUNDS is an abbreviation of GOD’S WOUNDS,—a very ancient catholic oath.

In a casual survey of the territory of Slang, it is curious to observe how well represented are the familiar wants and failings of life. First, there’s money, with one hundred and twenty Slang terms and synonymes; then comes drink, from small beer to champagne; and next, as a very natural sequence, _intoxication_, and fuddlement generally, with some half a hundred vulgar terms, graduating the scale of drunkenness from a slight inebriation, to the soaky state of gutterdom and stretcherdom,—I pray the reader to forgive the expressions. The Slang synonymes for mild intoxication are certainly very choice,—they are BEERY, BEMUSED, BOOZY, BOSKY, BUFFY, CORNED, FOGGY, FOU, FRESH, HAZY, ELEVATED, KISKY, LUSHY, MOONY, MUGGY, MUZZY, ON, SCREWED, STEWED, TIGHT, and WINEY. A higher or more intense state of beastliness is represented by the expressions, PODGY, BEARGERED, BLUED, CUT, PRIMED, LUMPY, PLOUGHED, MUDDLED, OBFUSCATED, SWIPEY, THREE SHEETS IN THE WIND, and TOP-HEAVY. But the climax of fuddlement is only obtained when the DISGUISED individual CAN’T SEE A HOLE IN A LADDER, or when he is all MOPS AND BROOMS, or OFF HIS NUT, or with his MAIN-BRACE WELL SPLICED, or with the SUN IN HIS EYES, or when he has LAPPED THE GUTTER, and got the GRAVEL RASH, or on the RAN-TAN, or on the RE-RAW, or when he is SEWED UP, or regularly SCAMMERED,—then, and not till then, is he entitled in vulgar society to the title of LUSHINGTON, or recommended to PUT IN THE PIN.

A DICTIONARY OF MODERN SLANG, CANT, & VULGAR WORDS;

MANY WITH THEIR ETYMOLOGIES TRACED.

A 1, first rate, the very best; “she’s a prime girl she is; she is A 1.“—_Sam Slick._ The highest classification of ships at Lloyd’s; common term in the United States, also at Liverpool and other English seaports. Another, even more intensitive form, is “first-class, letter A, No. 1.”

ABOUT RIGHT, “to do the thing ABOUT RIGHT,” _i.e._, to do it properly, soundly, correctly; “he guv it ’im ABOUT RIGHT,” _i.e._, he beat him severely.

ABRAM-SHAM, or SHAM-ABRAHAM, to feign sickness or distress. From ABRAM MAN, the _ancient cant_ term for a begging impostor, or one who pretended to have been mad.—_Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy_, part i., sec. 2, vol. i., p. 360. When Abraham Newland was Cashier of the Bank of England, and signed their notes, it was sung:—

“I have heard people say
That SHAM ABRAHAM you may,
But you mustn’t SHAM ABRAHAM Newland.”

ABSQUATULATE, to run away, or abscond; a hybrid _American_ expression, from the Latin _ab_, and “squat,” to settle.

ADAM’S ALE, water.—_English._ The Scotch term is ADAM’S WINE.

AGGERAWATORS (corruption of _Aggravators_), the greasy locks of hair in vogue among costermongers and other street folk, worn twisted from the temple back towards the ear. They are also, from a supposed resemblance in form, termed NEWGATE KNOCKERS, which see.—_Sala’s Gas-light_, &c.

ALDERMAN, a half-crown—possibly from its rotundity.

ALDERMAN, a turkey.

ALDERMAN IN CHAINS, a turkey hung with sausages.

ALL OF A HUGH! all on one side, or with a thump; the word HUGH being pronounced with a grunt.—_Suffolk._

ALL MY EYE, answer of astonishment to an improbable story; ALL MY EYE AND BETTY MARTIN, a vulgar phrase with similar meaning, said to be the commencement of a Popish prayer to St. Martin, “Oh mihi, beate Martine,” and fallen into discredit at the Reformation.

ALL-OVERISH, neither sick nor well, the premonitory symptoms of illness.

ALL-ROUNDERS, the fashionable shirt collars of the present time worn meeting in front.

ALL-SERENE, an ejaculation of acquiescence.

ALLS, tap-droppings, refuse spirits sold at a cheap rate in gin-palaces.—_See_ LOVEAGE.

ALL-THERE, in strict fashion, first-rate, “up to the mark;” a vulgar person would speak of a spruce, showily-dressed female as being ALL-THERE. An artizan would use the same phrase to express the capabilities of a skilful fellow workman.

ALL TO PIECES, utterly, excessively; “he beat him ALL TO PIECES,” _i.e._, excelled or surpassed him exceedingly.

ALL TO SMASH, or GONE TO PIECES, bankrupt, or smashed to pieces.—_Somersetshire._

ALMIGHTY DOLLAR, an _American_ expression for the “power of money,” first introduced by Washington Irving in 1837.

AN’T, or AÏN’T, the vulgar abbreviation of “am not,” or “are not.”

ANOINTING, a good beating.

ANY HOW, in any way, or at any rate, bad; “he went on ANY HOW,” _i.e._, badly or indifferently.

APPLE CART, “down with his APPLE CART,” _i.e._, upset him.—_North._

APPLE PIE ORDER, in exact or very nice order.

AREA-SNEAK, a boy thief who commits depredations upon kitchens and cellars.—_See_ CROW.

ARGOT, a term used amongst London thieves for their secret or cant language. _French_ term for slang.

ARTICLE, a man or boy, derisive term.

ARY, corruption of ever a, e’er a; ARY ONE, e’er a one.

ATTACK, to carve, or commence operations on; “ATTACK that beef, and oblige!”

ATTIC, the head; “queer in the ATTIC,” intoxicated.—_Pugilistic._

AUNT-SALLY, a favourite game on race-courses and at fairs, consisting of a wooden head mounted on a stick, firmly fixed in the ground; in the nose of which, or rather in that part of the facial arrangement of AUNT SALLY which is generally considered incomplete without a nasal projection, a tobacco pipe is inserted. The fun consists in standing at a distance and demolishing AUNT SALLY’S pipe-clay projection with short bludgeons, very similar to the half of a broom-handle. The Duke of Beaufort is a “crack hand” at smashing pipe noses, and his performances two years ago on Brighton race-course are yet fresh in remembrance. The noble Duke, in the summer months, frequently drives the old London and Brighton four-horse mail coach, “Age”—a whim singular enough now, but common forty years ago.

AUTUMN, a slang term for an execution by hanging. When the drop was introduced instead of the old gallows, cart, and ladder, and a man was for the first time “turned-off” in the present fashion, the mob were so pleased with the invention that they spoke of the operation as at AUTUMN, or the FALL OF THE LEAF (_sc._ the drop), with the man about to be hung.

AVAST, a sailor’s phrase for stop, shut up, go away,—apparently connected with the _old cant_, BYNGE A WASTE.

AWAKE, or FLY, knowing, thoroughly understanding, not ignorant of. The phrase WIDE AWAKE carries the same meaning in ordinary conversation.

AWFUL (or, with the Cockneys, ORFUL), a senseless expletive, used to intensify a description of anything good or bad; “what an AWFUL fine woman!” _i.e._, how handsome, or showy!

AXE, to ask.—_Saxon_, ACSIAN.

BABES, the lowest order of KNOCK-OUTS (which see), who are prevailed upon not to give opposing biddings at auctions, in consideration of their receiving a small sum (from one shilling to half-a-crown), and a certain quantity of beer. BABES exist in Baltimore, U.S., where they are known as blackguards and “rowdies.”

BACK JUMP, a back window.

BACK SLANG IT, to go out the back way.

BACK OUT, to retreat from a difficulty; the reverse of GO AHEAD. Metaphor borrowed from the stables.

BACON, “to save one’s BACON,” to escape.

BAD, “to go to the BAD,” to deteriorate in character, be ruined. _Virgil_ has an exactly similar phrase, _in pejus ruere_.

BAGMAN, a commercial traveller.

BAGS, trowsers. Trowsers of an extensive pattern, or exaggerated fashionable cut, have lately been termed HOWLING-BAGS, but only when the style has been very “_loud_.” The word is probably an abbreviation for b—mbags. “To have the BAGS off,” to be of age and one’s own master, to have plenty of money.

BAKE, “he’s only HALF BAKED,” _i.e._, soft, inexperienced.

BAKER’S DOZEN. This consists of thirteen or fourteen; the surplus number, called the _inbread_, being thrown in for fear of incurring the penalty for short weight. To “give a man a BAKER’S DOZEN,” in a slang sense, means to give him an extra good beating or pummelling.

BALAAM, printers’ slang for matter kept in type about monstrous productions of nature, &c., to fill up spaces in newspapers that would otherwise be vacant. The term BALAAM-BOX has long been used in _Blackwood_ as the name of the depository for rejected articles.

BALL, prison allowance, viz., six ounces of meat.

BALLYRAG, to scold vehemently, to swindle one out of his money by intimidation and sheer abuse, as alleged in a late cab case (_Evans_ v. _Robinson_).

BALMY, insane.

BAMBOOZLE, to deceive, make fun of, or cheat a person; abbreviated to BAM, which is used also as a substantive, a deception, a sham, a “sell.” _Swift_ says BAMBOOZLE was invented by a nobleman in the reign of Charles II.; but this I conceive to be an error. The probability is that a nobleman first _used_ it in polite society. The term is derived from the _Gipseys_.

BANDED, hungry.

BANDY, or CRIPPLE, a sixpence, so called from this coin being generally bent or crooked; old term for flimsy or bad cloth, temp. Q. Elizabeth.

BANG, to excel or surpass; BANGING, great or thumping.

BANG-UP, first-rate.

BANTLING, a child; stated in _Bacchus and Venus_, 1737, and by _Grose_, to be a cant term.

BANYAN-DAY, a day on which no meat is served out for rations; probably derived from the BANIANS, a Hindoo caste, who abstain from animal food.—_Sea._

BAR, or BARRING, excepting; in common use in the betting-ring; “I bet against the field BAR two.” The Irish use of BARRIN’ is very similar.

BARKER, a man employed to cry at the doors of “gaffs,” shows, and puffing shops, to entice people inside.

BARKING IRONS, pistols.

BARNACLES, a pair of spectacles; corruption of BINOCULI?

BARNEY, a LARK, SPREE, rough enjoyment; “get up a BARNEY,” to have a “lark.”

BARNEY, a mob, a crowd.

BARN-STORMERS, theatrical performers who travel the country and act in barns, selecting short and frantic pieces to suit the rustic taste.—_Theatrical._

BARRIKIN, jargon, speech, or discourse; “we can’t tumble to that BARRIKIN,” _i.e._, we don’t understand what he says. _Miege_ calls it “a sort of stuff.”

BASH, to beat, thrash; “BASHING a donna,” beating a woman; originally a provincial word, and chiefly applied to the practice of beating walnut trees, when in bud, with long poles, to increase their productiveness. Hence the West country proverb—

“A woman, a whelp, and a walnut tree,
The more you BASH ’em, the better they be.”

BAT, “on his own BAT,” on his own account.—_See_ HOOK.

BATS, a pair of bad boots.

BATTER, “on the BATTER,” literally “on the streets,” or given up to roistering and debauchery.

BATTLES, the students’ term at Oxford for rations. At Cambridge, COMMONS.

BAWDYKEN, a brothel.—_See_ KEN.

BAZAAR, a shop or counter. _Gipsey and Hindoo_, a market.

BEAK, a magistrate, judge, or policeman; “baffling the BEAK,” to get remanded. _Ancient cant_, BECK. _Saxon_, BEAG, a necklace or gold collar—emblem of authority. Sir John Fielding was called the BLIND-BEAK in the last century Query, if connected with the Italian BECCO, which means a (bird’s) _beak_, and also a _blockhead_.

BEAKER-HUNTER, a stealer of poultry.

BEANS, money; “a haddock of BEANS,” a purse of money; formerly BEAN meant a guinea; _French_, BIENS, property; also used as a synonyme for BRICK, which see.

BEAR, one who contracts to deliver or sell a certain quantity of stock in the public funds on a forthcoming day at a stated place, but who does not possess it, trusting to a decline in public securities to enable him to fulfil the agreement and realise a profit.—_See_ BULL. Both words are slang terms on the Stock Exchange, and are frequently used in the business columns of newspapers.

“He who sells that of which he is not possessed is proverbially said
to sell the skin before he has caught the BEAR. It was the practice
of stock-jobbers, in the year 1720, to enter into a contract for
transferring South Sea Stock at a future time for a certain price;
but he who contracted to sell had frequently no stock to transfer,
nor did he who bought intend to receive any in consequence of his
bargain; the seller was, therefore, called a BEAR, in allusion to the
proverb, and the buyer a BULL, perhaps only as a similar distinction.
The contract was merely a wager, to be determined by the rise or fall
of stock; if it rose, the seller paid the difference to the buyer,
proportioned to the sum determined by the same computation to the
seller.”—_Dr. Warton on Pope._

BEARGERED, to be drunk.

BEAT, or BEAT-HOLLOW, to surpass or excel.

BEAT, the allotted range traversed by a policeman on duty.

BEAT-OUT, DEAD-BEAT, tired or fagged.

BEATER-CASES, boots: _Nearly obsolete_.

BEAVER, old street term for a hat; GOSS is the modern word, BEAVER, except in the country, having fallen into disuse.

BE-BLOWED, a windy exclamation equivalent to an oath.—_See_ BLOW-ME.

BED-POST, “in the twinkling of a BED-POST,” in a moment, or very quickly. Originally BED-STAFF, a stick placed vertically in the frame of a bed to keep the bedding in its place.—_Shadwell’s Virtuoso_, 1676, act i., scene 1. This was used sometimes as a defensive weapon.

BEE, “to have a BEE in one’s bonnet,” _i.e._, to be not exactly sane.

BEERY, intoxicated, or fuddled with beer.

BEESWAX, poor soft cheese.

BEETLE-CRUSHERS, or SQUASHERS, large flat feet.

BELCHER, a kind of handkerchief.—_See_ BILLY.

BELL, a song.

BELLOWS, the lungs.

BELLOWSED, or LAGGED, transported.

BELLOWS-TO-MEND, out of breath.

BELLY-TIMBER, food, or “grub.”

BELLY-VENGEANCE, small sour beer, apt to cause gastralgia.

BEMUSE, to fuddle one’s self with drink, “BEMUSING himself with beer,” &c.—_Sala’s Gas-light and Day-light_, p. 308.

BEN, a benefit.—_Theatrical._

BEND, “that’s above my BEND,” _i.e._, beyond my power, too expensive, or too difficult for me to perform.

BENDER, a sixpence,—from its liability to bend.

BENDER, the arm; “over the BENDER,” synonymous with “over the left.”—_See_ OVER. Also an ironical exclamation similar to WALKER.

BENE, good.—_Ancient cant_; BENAR was the comparative.—_See_ BONE. _Latin._

BENJAMIN, a coat. Formerly termed a JOSEPH, in allusion, perhaps, to Joseph’s coat of many colours.—_See_ UPPER-BENJAMIN.

BENJY, a waistcoat.

BEONG, a shilling.—_See_ SALTEE.

BESTER, a low betting cheat.

BESTING, excelling, cheating. BESTED, taken in, or defrauded.

BETTER, more; “how far is it to town?” “oh, BETTER ’n a mile.”—_Saxon_ and _Old English_, now a vulgarism.

BETTY, a skeleton key, or picklock.—_Old cant._

B. FLATS, bugs.

BIBLE CARRIER, a person who sells songs without singing them.

BIG, “to look BIG,” to assume an inflated dress, or manner; “to talk BIG,” _i.e._, boastingly, or with an “extensive” air.

BIG-HOUSE, the work-house.

BILBO, a sword; abbrev. of BILBOA blade. Spanish swords were anciently very celebrated, especially those of Toledo, Bilboa, &c.

BILK, a cheat, or a swindler. Formerly in frequent use, now confined to the streets, where it is very general. _Gothic_, BILAICAN.

BILK, to defraud, or obtain goods, &c. without paying for them; “to BILK the schoolmaster,” to get information or experience without paying for it.

BILLINGSGATE (when applied to speech), foul and coarse language. Not many years since, one of the London notorieties was to hear the fishwomen at Billingsgate abuse each other. The anecdote of Dr. Johnson and the Billingsgate virago is well known.

BILLY, a silk pocket handkerchief.—_Scotch._—See WIPE.

⁂ A list of the slang terms descriptive of the various patterns of handkerchiefs, pocket and neck, is here subjoined:—

BELCHER, close striped pattern, yellow silk, and intermixed with
white and a little black; named from the pugilist, Jim Belcher.

BIRD’S EYE WIPE, diamond spots.

BLOOD-RED FANCY, red.

BLUE BILLY, blue ground with white spots.

CREAM FANCY, any pattern on a white ground.

GREEN KING’S MAN, any pattern on a green ground.

RANDAL’S MAN, green, with white spots; named after Jack Randal,
pugilist.

WATER’S MAN, sky coloured.

YELLOW FANCY, yellow, with white spots.

YELLOW MAN, all yellow.

BILLY-BARLOW, a street clown; sometimes termed a JIM CROW, or SALTIMBANCO,—so called from the hero of a slang song.—_Bulwer’s Paul Clifford._

BILLY-HUNTING, buying old metal.

BIRD-CAGE, a four-wheeled cab.

BIT, fourpence; in America 12½ cents is called a BIT, and a defaced 20 cent piece is termed a LONG BIT. A BIT is the smallest coin in Jamaica, equal to 6d.

BIT, a purse, or any sum of money.

BIT-FAKER, or TURNER OUT, a coiner of bad money.

BITCH, tea; “a BITCH party,” a tea-drinking.—_University._

BITE, a cheat; “a Yorkshire BITE,” a cheating fellow from that county.—_North_; also _old slang_, used by _Pope_. Swift says it originated with a nobleman in his day.

BITE, to cheat; “to be BITTEN,” to be taken in or imposed upon. Originally a Gipsey term.—_See Bacchus and Venus._

BIVVY, or GATTER, beer; “shant of BIVVY,” a pot, or quart of beer. In Suffolk, the afternoon refreshment of reapers is called BEVER. It is also an old English term.

“He is none of those same ordinary eaters, that will devour three
breakfasts, and as many dinners, without any prejudice to their
BEVERS, drinkings, or suppers.”—_Beaumont and Fletcher’s Woman Hater_
1–3.

Both words are probably from the Italian, _bevere_, _bere_. Latin, _bibere_. English, _beverage_.

BLACK AND WHITE, handwriting.

BLACKBERRY-SWAGGER, a person who hawks tapes, boot laces, &c.

BLACK-LEG, a rascal, swindler, or card cheat.

BLACK-SHEEP, a “bad lot,” “_mauvais sujet_;” also a workman who refuses to join in a strike.

BLACK-STRAP, port wine.

BLADE, a man—in ancient times the term for a soldier; “knowing BLADE,” a wide awake, sharp, or cunning man.

BLACKGUARD, a low, or dirty fellow.

“A cant word amongst the vulgar, by which is implied a dirty fellow
of the meanest kind, Dr. Johnson says, and he cites only the modern
authority of Swift. But the introduction of this word into our
language belongs not to the vulgar, and is more than a century prior
to the time of Swift. Mr. Malone agrees with me in exhibiting the
two first of the following examples. The _black-guard_ is evidently
designed to imply a fit attendant on the devil. Mr. Gifford, however,
in his late edition of Ben Jonson’s works, assigns an origin of the
name different from what the old examples which I have cited seem
to countenance. It has been formed, he says, from those ‘mean and
dirty dependants, in great houses, who were selected to carry coals
to the kitchen, halls, &c. To this smutty regiment, who attended
the progresses, and rode in the carts with the pots and kettles,
which, with every other article of furniture, were then moved from
palace to palace, the people, in derision, gave the name of _black
guards_; a term since become sufficiently familiar, and never
properly explained.’—Ben Jonson, ii. 169, vii. 250”—_Todd’s Johnson’s
Dictionary._

BLARNEY, flattery, exaggeration.—_Hibernicism._

BLAST, to curse.

BLAZES, “like BLAZES,” furious or desperate, a low comparison.

BLEST, a vow; “BLEST if I’ll do it,” _i.e._, I am determined not to do it; euphemism for CURST.

BLEED, to victimise, or extract money from a person, to spunge on, to make suffer vindictively.

BLEW, or BLOW, to inform, or peach.

BLEWED, got rid of, disposed of, spent; “I BLEWED all my blunt last night,” I spent all my money.

BLIND, a pretence, or make believe.

BLIND-HOOKEY, a gambling game at cards.

BLINKER, a blackened eye.—_Norwich slang._

BLINK FENCER, a person who sells spectacles.

BLOAK, or BLOKE, a man; “the BLOAK with a jasey,” the man with a wig, _i.e._, the Judge. _Gipsey_ and _Hindoo_, LOKE. _North_, BLOACHER, any large animal.

BLOB (from BLAB), to talk. Beggars are of two kinds,—those who SCREEVE (introduce themselves with a FAKEMENT, or false document), and those who BLOB, or state their case in their own truly “unvarnished” language.

BLOCK, the head.

BLOCK ORNAMENTS, the small dark coloured pieces of meat exposed on the cheap butchers’ blocks or counters,—debateable points to all the sharp visaged argumentative old women in low neighbourhoods.

BLOOD, a fast or high-mettled man. Nearly obsolete in the sense in which it was used in George the Fourth’s time.

BLOOD-RED FANCY, a kind of handkerchief worn by pugilists and frequenters of prize fights.—_See_ BILLY.

BLOODY-JEMMY, a sheep’s head.—_See_ SANGUINARY JAMES.

BLOW, to expose, or inform; “BLOW the gaff,” to inform against a person. In _America_, to BLOW is slang for to taunt.

BLOW A CLOUD, to smoke a cigar or pipe—a phrase in use two centuries ago.

BLOW ME, or BLOW ME TIGHT, a vow, a ridiculous and unmeaning ejaculation, inferring an appeal to the ejaculator; “I’m BLOWED if you will” is a common expression among the lower orders; “BLOW ME UP” was the term a century ago.—_See Parker’s Adventures_, 1781.

BLOW OUT, or TUCK IN, a feast.

BLOW UP, to make a noise, or scold; formerly a cant expression used amongst thieves, now a recognised and respectable phrase. BLOWING UP, a jobation, a scolding.

BLOWEN, a showy or flaunting prostitute, a thief’s paramour. In _Wilts_, a BLOWEN is a blossom. _Germ._ BLUHEN, to bloom.

“O du _blühende_ Mädchen viel schöne Willkomm!”—_German Song._

Possibly, however, the street term BLOWEN may mean one whose reputation has been BLOWN UPON, or damaged.

BLOWER, a girl; a contemptuous name in opposition to JOMER.

BLUBBER, to cry in a childish manner.—_Ancient._

BLUDGERS, low thieves, who use violence.

BLUE, a policeman; “disguised in BLUE and liquor.”—_Boots at the Swan._

BLUE, or BLEW, to pawn or pledge.

BLUE, confounded or surprised; “to look BLUE,” to be astonished or disappointed.

BLUE BILLY, the handkerchief (blue ground with white spots) worn and used at prize fights. Before a SET TO, it is common to take it from the neck and tie it round the leg as a garter, or round the waist, to “keep in the wind.” Also, the refuse ammoniacal lime from gas factories.

BLUE BLANKET, a rough over coat made of coarse pilot cloth.

BLUE-BOTTLE, a policeman. It is singular that this well known slang term for a London constable should have been used by Shakespere. In part ii. of King Henry IV., act v., scene 4, Doll Tearsheet calls the beadle, who is dragging her in, a “thin man in a censer, a BLUE-BOTTLE rogue.”

BLUED, or BLEWED, tipsey or drunk.

BLUE DEVILS, the apparitions supposed to be seen by habitual drunkards.

BLUE MOON, an unlimited period.

BLUE MURDER, a desperate or alarming cry. _French_, MORT-BLEU.

BLUE RUIN, gin.

BLUE-PIGEON FLYERS, journeymen plumbers, glaziers, and others, who, under the plea of repairing houses, strip off the lead, and make way with it. Sometimes they get off with it by wrapping it round their bodies.

BLUES, a fit of despondency.—_See_ BLUE DEVILS.

BLUEY, lead. _German_, BLEI.

BLUFF, an excuse.

BLUFF, to turn aside, stop, or excuse.

BLUNT, money. It has been said that this term is from the _French_ BLOND, sandy or golden colour, and that a parallel may be found in BROWN or BROWNS, the slang for half-pence. The etymology seems far fetched, however.

BLURT OUT, to speak from impulse, and without reflection.—_Shakespere._

BOB, a shilling. Formerly BOBSTICK, which may have been the original.

BOB, “s’help my BOB,” a street oath, equivalent to “so help me God.” Other words are used in street language for a similarly evasive purpose, _i.e._, CAT, GREENS, TATUR, &c., all equally profane and disgusting.

BOBBISH, very well, clever, spruce; “how are you doing?” “oh! pretty BOBBISH.”—_Old._

BOBBY, a policeman. Both BOBBY and PEELER were nicknames given to the new police, in allusion to the christian and surnames of the late _Sir Robert Peel_, who was the prime mover in effecting their introduction and improvement. The term BOBBY is, however, older than the _Saturday Reviewer_, in his childish and petulant remarks, imagines. The official square-keeper, who is always armed with a cane to drive away idle and disorderly urchins, has, time out of mind, been called by the said urchins, BOBBY _the Beadle_. BOBBY is also, I may remark, an old English word for striking or hitting, a quality not unknown to policemen.—_See Halliwell’s Dictionary._

BODMINTON, blood.—_Pugilistic._

BODY-SNATCHERS, bailiffs and runners: SNATCH, the trick by which the bailiff captures the delinquent.

BODY-SNATCHERS, cat stealers.

BOG or BOG-HOUSE, a water-closet.—_School term._ In the Inns of Court, I am informed, this term is very common.

BOG-TROTTER, satirical name for an Irishman.—_Miege._ _Camden_, however, speaking of the “debateable land” on the borders of England and Scotland, says “both these dales breed notable BOG-TROTTERS.”

BOILERS, the slang name given to the New Kensington Museum and School of Art, in allusion to the peculiar form of the buildings, and the fact of their being mainly composed of, and covered with, sheet iron.—_See_ PEPPER-BOXES.

BOLT, to run away, decamp, or abscond.

BOLT, to swallow without chewing.

BONE, good, excellent. ◇ the vagabond’s hieroglyphic for BONE, or good, chalked by them on houses and street corners, as a hint to succeeding beggars. _French_, BON.

BONE, to steal or pilfer. BONED, seized, apprehended.—_Old._

BONE-GRUBBERS, persons who hunt dust-holes, gutters, and all likely spots for refuse bones, which they sell at the rag-shops, or to the bone-grinders.

BONE-PICKER, a footman.

BONES, dice; also called ST. HUGH’S BONES.

BONES, “he made no BONES of it,” he did not hesitate, _i.e._, undertook and finished the work without difficulty, “found no BONES in the jelly.”—_Ancient, vide Cotgrave._

BONNET, a gambling cheat. “A man who sits at a gaming-table, and appears to be playing against the table; when a stranger enters, the BONNET generally wins.”—_Times_, Nov. 17, 1856. Also, a pretence, or make-believe, a sham bidder at auctions.

BONNET, to strike a man’s cap or hat over his eyes and nose.

BONNETTER, one who induces another to gamble.

BOOK, an arrangement of bets for and against, chronicled in a pocket-book made for that purpose; “making a BOOK upon it,” common phrase to denote the general arrangement of a person’s bets on a race. “That does not suit my BOOK,” _i.e._, does not accord with my other arrangements. _Shakespere_ uses BOOK in the sense of “a paper of conditions.”

BOOM, “to tip one’s BOOM off,” to be off, or start in a certain direction.—_Sea._

BOOKED, caught, fixed, disposed of.—Term in _Book-keeping_.

BOOZE, drink. _Ancient cant_, BOWSE.

BOOZE, to drink, or more properly, to use another slang term, to “lush,” viz, to drink continually, until drunk, or nearly so. The term is an old one. Harman, in Queen Elizabeth’s days, speaks of “BOUSING (or boozing) and belly-cheere.” The term was good English in the fourteenth century, and comes from the Dutch, BUYZEN, to tipple.

BOOZE, or SUCK-CASA, a public-house.

BOOZING-KEN, a beer-shop, a low public house.—_Ancient._

BOOZY, intoxicated or fuddled.

BORE, a troublesome friend or acquaintance, a nuisance, anything which wearies or annoys. The _Gradus ad Cantabrigiam_ suggests the derivation of BORE from the _Greek_, Βαρος, a burden. _Shakespere_ uses it, King Henry VIII., i., 1—

“—— at this instant
He BORES me with some trick.”

_Grose_ speaks of this word as being much in fashion about the year 1780–81, and states that it vanished of a sudden, without leaving a trace behind. Not so, burly Grose, the term is still in favour, and is as piquant and expressive as ever. Of the modern sense of the word BORE, the Prince Consort made an amusing and effective use in his masterly address to the British Association, at Aberdeen, September 14, 1859. He said (as reported by the _Times_):—

“I will not weary you by further examples, with which most of
you are better acquainted than I am myself but merely express my
satisfaction that there should exist bodies of men who will bring the
well-considered and understood wants of science before the public and
the Government, who will even hand round the begging-box, and expose
themselves to refusals and rebuffs, to which all beggars all liable,
with the certainty besides of being considered great BORES. Please
to recollect that this species of “bore” is a most useful animal,
well adapted for the ends for which nature intended him. He alone, by
constantly returning to the charge, and repeating the same truths and
the same requests, succeeds in awakening attention to the cause which
he advocates, and obtains that hearing which is granted him at last
for self-protection, as the minor evil compared to his importunity,
but which is requisite to make his cause understood.”

BOSH, nonsense, stupidity.—_Gipsey_ and _Persian_. Also pure _Turkish_, BOSH LAKERDI, empty talk. A person, in the _Saturday Review_, has stated that BOSH is coeval with Morier’s novel, _Hadji Babi_, which was published in 1828; but this is a blunder. The term was used in this country as early as 1760, and may be found in the _Student_, vol. ii., p. 217.

BOSH, a fiddle.

BOSH-FAKER, a violin player.

BOS-KEN, a farm-house. _Ancient._—_See_ KEN.

BOSKY, inebriated—_Household Words_, No. 183.

BOSMAN, a farmer; “faking a BOSMAN on the main toby,” robbing a farmer on the highway. BOSS, a master.—_American._ Both terms from the _Dutch_, BOSCH-MAN, one who lives in the woods; otherwise _Boschjeman_ or _Bushman_.

BOSS-EYED, a person with one eye, or rather with one eye injured.

BOTHER, to teaze, to annoy.

BOTHER (from the _Hibernicism_ POTHER), trouble, or annoyance. _Grose_ has a singular derivation, BOTHER, or BOTH-EARED, from two persons talking at the same time, or to both ears. BLOTHER, an old word, signifying to chatter idly.—_See Halliwell._

BOTHERATION! trouble, annoyance; “BOTHERATION to it,” confound it, or deuce take it, an exclamation when irritated.

BOTTLE-HOLDER, an assistant to a “Second,”—_Pugilistic_; an abettor; also, the bridegroom’s man at a wedding.

BOTTY, conceited, swaggering.

BOUNCE, impudence.

BOUNCE, a showy swindler.

BOUNCE, to boast, cheat, or bully.—_Old cant._

BOUNCER, a person who steals whilst bargaining with a tradesman; a lie.

BOUNDER, a four-wheel cab. _Lucus a non lucendo?_

BOUNETTER, a fortune-telling cheat.—_Gipsey._

BOW-CATCHERS, or KISS-CURLS, small curls twisted on the cheeks or temples of young—and often old—girls, adhering to the face as if gummed or pasted. Evidently a corruption of BEAU-CATCHERS. In old times these were called _love-locks_, when they were the marks at which all the puritan and ranting preachers levelled their pulpit pop-guns, loaded with sharp and virulent abuse. Hall and Prynne looked upon all women as strumpets who dared to let the hair depart from a straight line upon their cheeks. The French prettily term them _accroche-cœurs_, whilst in the United States they are plainly and unpleasantly called SPIT-CURLS. Bartlett says:—“SPIT CURL, a detached lock of hair curled upon the temple; probably from having been at first plastered into shape by the saliva. It is now understood that the mucilage of quince seed is used by the ladies for this purpose.”

“You may prate of your lips, and your teeth of pearl,
And your eyes so brightly flashing;
My song shall be of that SALIVA CURL
Which threatens my heart to smash in.”

_Boston Transcript_, October 30, 1858.

When men twist the hair on each side of their faces into ropes they are sometimes called BELL-ROPES, as being wherewith to _draw the belles_. Whether BELL-ROPES or BOW-CATCHERS, it is singular they should form part of the prisoner’s paraphernalia, and that a jaunty little kiss-me quick curl should, of all things in the world, ornament a gaol dock; yet such was formerly the case. Hunt, the murderer of Weare, on his trial, we are informed by the Athenæum, appeared at the bar with a highly pomatumed love-lock sticking tight to his forehead. Young ladies, think of this!

BOWL-OUT, to put out of the game, to remove out of one’s way, to detect.—_Cricketing term._

BOWLAS, round tarts made of sugar, apple, and bread, sold in the streets.

BOWLES, shoes.

BOX-HARRY, a term with bagmen or commercial travellers, implying dinner and tea at one meal; also dining with Humphrey, _i.e._, going without.—_Lincolnshire._

BRACE UP, to pawn stolen goods.

BRACELETS, handcuffs.

BRADS, money. Properly, a small kind of nails used by cobblers.—Compare HORSE NAILS.

BRAD-FAKING, playing at cards.

BRAGGADOCIO, three months’ imprisonment as a reputed thief or old offender,—sometimes termed a DOSE, or a DOLLOP.—_Household Words_, vol. i., p. 579.

BRAN-NEW, quite new. Properly, _Brent_, BRAND, or _Fire-new_, _i.e._, fresh from the anvil.

BRASS, money.

BREAD-BASKET, DUMPLING DEPOT, VICTUALLING OFFICE, &c., are terms given by the “_Fancy_” to the digestive organ.

BREAK-DOWN, a jovial, social gathering, a FLARE UP; in Ireland, a wedding.

BREAKING SHINS, borrowing money.

BREAKY-LEG, a shilling.

BREAKY-LEG, strong drink; “he’s been to Bungay fair, and BROKE BOTH HIS LEGS,” _i.e._, got drunk. In the ancient Egyptian language the determinative character in the hieroglyphic verb “to be drunk,” has the significant form of the leg of a man being amputated. [Egyptian hieroglyphs]

BREECHED, or TO HAVE THE BAGS OFF, to have plenty of money; “to be well BREECHED,” to be in good circumstances.

BREECHES, “to wear the BREECHES,” said of a wife who usurps the husband’s prerogative.

BREEKS, breeches.—_Scotch_, now common.

BRICK, a “jolly good fellow;” “a regular BRICK,” a staunch fellow.

“I bonnetted Whewell, when we gave the Rads their gruel,
And taught them to eschew all their addresses to the Queen.
If again they try it on, why to floor them I’ll make one,
Spite of Peeler or of Don, like a BRICK and a _Bean_.”

_The Jolly Bachelors_, Cambridge, 1840.

Said to be derived from an expression of Aristotle, τετραγωνος ἀνηρ.

BRIEF, a pawnbroker’s duplicate.

BRISKET BEATER, a Roman Catholic.

BROADS, cards. BROADSMAN, a card sharper.

BROAD AND SHALLOW, an epithet applied to the so-called “Broad Church,” in contradistinction to the “High” and “Low” Church.—_See_ HIGH AND DRY.

BROAD-FENCER, card seller at races.

BROSIER, a bankrupt.—_Cheshire._ BROSIER-MY-DAME, school term, implying a clearing of the housekeeper’s larder of provisions, in revenge for stinginess.—_Eton._

BROTHER-CHIP, fellow carpenter. Also, BROTHER-WHIP, a fellow coachman; and BROTHER-BLADE, of the same occupation or calling—originally a fellow soldier.

BROWN, a halfpenny.—_See_ BLUNT.

BROWN, “to do BROWN,” to do well or completely (in allusion to roasting); “doing it BROWN,” prolonging the frolic, or exceeding sober bounds; “DONE BROWN,” taken in, deceived, or surprised.

BROWN BESS, the old Government regulation musket.

BROWN PAPERMEN, low gamblers.

BROWN SALVE, a token of surprise at what is heard, and at the same time means “I understand you.”

BROWN-STUDY, a reverie. Very common even in educated society, but hardly admissible in writing, and therefore must be considered a vulgarism. It is derived, by a writer in _Notes and Queries_, from BROW study, from the old German BRAUN, or AUG-BRAUN, an eye-brow.—_Ben Jonson._

BROWN-TO, to understand, to comprehend.—_American._

BRUISER, a fighting man, a pugilist.—_Pugilistic._ _Shakespere_ uses the word BRUISING in a similar sense.

BRUMS, counterfeit coins. _Nearly obsolete._ Corruption of _Brummagem_ (Bromwicham), the ancient name of _Birmingham_, the great emporium of plated goods and imitation jewellery.

BRUSH, or BRUSH-OFF, to run away, or move on.—_Old cant._

BUB, drink of any kind.—_See_ GRUB. _Middleton_, the dramatist, mentions BUBBER, a great drinker.

BUB, a teat, woman’s breast.

BUCK, a gay or smart man, a cuckold.

BUCKHORSE, a smart blow or box on the ear; derived from the name of a celebrated “bruiser” of that name.

BUCKLE, to bend; “I can’t BUCKLE to that,” I don’t understand it; to yield or give in to a person. _Shakespere_ uses the word in the latter sense, Henry IV., i. 1; and _Halliwell_ says that “the commentators do not supply another example.” How strange that in our own streets the term should be used every day! Stop the first costermonger, and he will soon inform you the various meanings of BUCKLE.—_See Notes and Queries_, vols. vii., viii., and ix.

BUCKLE-TO, to bend to one’s work, to begin at once, and with great energy.

BUDGE, to move, to inform, to SPLIT, or tell tales.

BUFF, to swear to, or accuse; to SPLIT, or peach upon. _Old_ word for boasting, 1582.

BUFF, the bare skin; “stripped to the BUFF.”

BUFFER, a dog. Their skins were formerly in great request—hence the term, BUFF meaning in old English _to skin_. It is still used in the ring, BUFFED meaning stripped to the skin. In Irish cant, BUFFER is a _boxer_. The BUFFER of a railway carriage doubtless received its very appropriate name from the old pugilistic application of this term.

BUFFER, a familiar expression for a jolly acquaintance, probably from the _French_, BOUFFARD, a fool or clown; a “jolly old BUFFER,” said of a good humoured or liberal old man. In 1737, a BUFFER was a “rogue that killed good sound horses for the sake of their skins, by running a long wire into them.”—_Bacchus and Venus._ The term was once applied to those who took false oaths for a consideration.

BUFFLE HEAD, a stupid or obtuse person.—_Miege._ _German_, BUFFEL-HAUPT, buffalo-headed.

BUFFY, intoxicated.—_Household Words_, No. 183.

BUGGY, a gig, or light chaise. Common term in America and in Ireland.

BUG-HUNTERS, low wretches who plunder drunken men.

BUILD, applied in fashionable slang to the make or style of dress, &c.; “it’s a tidy BUILD, who made it?”

BULGER, large; synonymous with BUSTER.

BULL, term amongst prisoners for the meat served to them in jail.

BULL, one who agrees to purchase stock at a future day, at a stated price, but who does not possess money to pay for it, trusting to a rise in public securities to render the transaction a profitable one. Should stocks fall, the bull is then called upon to pay the difference.—_See_ BEAR, who is the opposite of a BULL, the former selling, the latter purchasing—the one operating for a _fall_ or a _pull down_, whilst the other operates for a _rise_ or _toss up_.

BULL, a crown piece; formerly, BULL’S EYE.

BULL-THE-CASK, to pour hot water into an empty rum puncheon, and let it stand until it extracts the spirit from the wood. The result is drunk by sailors in default of something stronger.—_Sea._

BULLY, a braggart; but in the language of the streets, a man of the most degraded morals, who protects prostitutes, and lives off their miserable earnings.—_Shakespere_, Midsummer Night’s Dream, iii. 1; iv. 2.

BUM, the part on which we sit.—_Shakespere._ BUMBAGS, trowsers.

BUM-BAILIFF, a sheriff’s officer,—a term, some say, derived from the proximity which this gentleman generally maintains to his victims. _Blackstone_ says it is a corruption of “bound bailiff.”

BUM-BOATS, shore boats which supply ships with provisions, and serve as means of communication between the sailors and the shore.

BUM-BRUSHER, a schoolmaster.

BUMMAREE. This term is given to a class of speculating salesmen at Billingsgate market, not recognised as such by the trade, but who get a living by buying large quantities of fish of the salesmen and re-selling it to smaller buyers. The word has been used in the statutes and bye-laws of the markets for upwards of 100 years. It has been variously derived, but is most probably from the _French_, BONNE MAREE, good fresh fish! “Marée signifie toute sorte de poisson de mer qûi n’est pas salé; bonne marée—_marée fraiche_, vendeur de marée.”—_Dict. de l’Acad. Franc._ The BUMMAREES are accused of many trade tricks. One of them is to blow up cod-fish with a pipe until they look double their actual size. Of course when the fish come to table they are flabby, sunken, and half dwindled away. In Norwich, TO BUMMAREE ONE is to run up a score at a public house just open, and is equivalent to “running into debt with one.”

BUNCH OF FIVES, the hand, or fist.

BUNDLE, “to BUNDLE a person off,” _i.e._, to pack him off, send him flying.

BUNG, the landlord of a public-house.

BUNG, to give, pass, hand over, drink, or indeed to perform any action; BUNG UP, to close up—_Pugilistic_; “BUNG over the rag,” hand over the money—_Old_, used by _Beaumont and Fletcher_, and _Shakespere_. Also, to deceive one by a lie, to CRAM, which see.

BUNKER, beer.

BUNTS, costermonger’s perquisites; the money obtained by giving light weight, &c.; costermongers’ goods sold by boys on commission. Probably a corruption of _bonus_, BONE being the slang for good. BUNCE, _Grose_ gives as the cant word for money.

BURDON’S HOTEL, Whitecross-street prison, of which the Governor is or was a Mr. Burdon.

BURERK, a lady. _Grose_ gives BURICK, a prostitute.

BURKE, to kill, to murder, by pitch plaster or other foul means. From Burke, the notorious Whitechapel murderer, who with others used to waylay people, kill them, and sell their bodies for dissection at the hospitals.

BURYING A MOLL, running away from a mistress.

BUSKER, a man who sings or performs in a public house.—_Scotch._

BUSK (or BUSKING), to sell obscene songs and books at the bars and in the tap rooms of public houses. Sometimes implies selling any articles.

BUSS, an abbreviation of “omnibus,” a public carriage. Also, a kiss.

BUST, or BURST, to tell tales, to SPLIT, to inform. BUSTING, informing against accomplices when in custody.

BUSTER (BURSTER), a small new loaf; “twopenny BUSTER,” a twopenny loaf. “A pennorth o’ BEES WAX (cheese) and a penny BUSTER,” a common snack at beershops.

BUSTER, an extra size; “what a BUSTER,” what a large one; “in for a BUSTER,” determined on an extensive frolic or spree. _Scotch_, BUSTUOUS; _Icelandic_, BOSTRA.

BUSTLE, money; “to draw the BUSTLE.”

BUTTER, or BATTER, praise or flattery. To BUTTER, to flatter, cajole.

BUTTER-FINGERED, apt to let things fall.

BUTTON, a decoy, sham purchaser, &c. At any mock or sham auction seedy specimens may be seen. Probably from the connection of _buttons_ with _Brummagem_, which is often used as a synonyme for a sham.

BUTTONER, a man who entices another to play.—_See_ BONNETTER.

BUTTONS, a page,—from the rows of gilt buttons which adorn his jacket.

BUTTONS, “not to have all one’s BUTTONS,” to be deficient in intellect.

BUZ, to pick pockets; BUZ-FAKING, robbing.

BUZ, to share equally the last of a bottle of wine, when there is not enough for a full glass for each of the party.

BUZZERS, pickpockets. _Grose_ gives BUZ COVE and BUZ GLOAK, the latter is very ancient cant.

BUZ-BLOAK, a pickpocket, who principally confines his attention to purses and loose cash. _Grose_ gives BUZ-GLOAK (or CLOAK?), an ancient cant word. BUZ-NAPPER, a young pickpocket.

BUZ-NAPPER’S ACADEMY, a school in which young thieves are trained. Figures are dressed up, and experienced tutors stand in various difficult attitudes for the boys to practice upon. When clever enough they are sent on the streets. It is reported that a house of this nature is situated in a court near Hatton Garden. The system is well explained in _Dickens’ Oliver Twist_.

BYE-BLOW, a bastard child.

BY GEORGE, an exclamation similar to BY JOVE. The term is older than is frequently imagined, vide _Bacchus and Venus_ (p. 117), 1737. “Fore (or by) GEORGE, I’d knock him down.” A street compliment to Saint George, the patron Saint of England, or possibly to the House of Hanover.