Chapter VI: Introduction (5)

BISMARCK, couleur ----, _brown colour_; ---- en colère, ---- malade, _are various shades of brown_.

BISMARCKER (gamesters’), _to mark twice_; _to appropriate by fair or foul means_. It is to be presumed this is an allusion to Bismarck’s alleged summary ways of getting possession of divers territories.

BISQUANT, _adj._ (popular), _provoking_, _annoying_.

BISSARD, _m._ (popular), _brown bread_.

BISTOURNÉ, _m._ (popular), _hunting horn_.

BISTRO, BISTROT, _m._ (popular), _landlord of wine-shop_.

BITTE ET BOSSE (sailors’), _carousing exclamation_.

Laisse arriver! voiles largues, et remplissez les
boujarons, vous autres! Tout à la noce! Bitte et
bosse!--=RICHEPIN=, _La Glu_.

BITTER CUIRASSÉ, _m._ (familiar), _mixture of bitters and curaçoa_.

BITUME, _m._ _foot-pavement_. Demoiselle du ----, _street-walker_. Faire le ----, _to walk the street_. Fouler, or polir le ----, _to saunter on the boulevard_.

BITUMER _is said of women who walk the streets_.

BITURE, _f._ (familiar), _excessive indulgence in food or drink_, “scorf.”

BITURER (popular), se ----, _to indulge in a_ “biture” (which see).

BLACKBOULAGE, _m._ (familiar), _blackballing_.

BLACKBOULER (familiar), _to blackball_. The expression has now a wider range, and is used specially in reference to unreturned candidates to Parliament. Un blackboulé du suffrage universel, _an unreturned candidate_.

BLAFARD (cads’), _silver coin_.

Il avait vu sauter une pièce de cent sous,
Se cognant au trottoir dans un bruit de cymbales,
Un écu flambant neuf, un blafard de cinq balles.

=RICHEPIN=, _Chanson des Gueux_.

BLAFARDE (cads’), _death_.

BLAGUE, _f._ Literally _facility of speech, not of a very high order_; _talk_; _humbug_; _fib_; _chaff_; _joke_. Avoir de la ----, _to have a ready tongue_. N’avoir que la ----, _to be a facile utterer of empty words_. Avoir la ---- du métier, _to be an adept in showing off knowledge of things relating to one’s profession_. Nous avons fait deux heures de ----, _we talked together for two hours_. Pas de ----! _none of your nonsense_; _let us be serious_. Pousser une ----, _to cram up_; _to joke_. Sans ----, _I am not joking_. Une bonne ----, _a good joke_; _a good story_. Une mauvaise ----, _a bad, ill-natured joke_; _bad trick_. Quelle ----, _what humbug! what a story!_ Ne faire que des blagues _is said of a literary man whose productions are of no importance_. (Popular) Blague sous l’aisselle! _no more humbugging! I am not joking!_ ---- dans le coin! _joking apart_; _seriously_.

BLAGUER (familiar), _to chat_; _to talk_; _to joke_; _not to be in earnest_; _to draw the long-bow_; _to quiz_, _to chaff_, _to humbug one_, “to pull the leg;” _to make a jaunty show of courage_. Tu blagues tout le temps, _you talk all the time_. Il avait l’air de blaguer mais il n’était pas à la noce, _he made a show of bravery, but he was far from being comfortable_.

BLAGUES À TABAC, _f._ (popular), _withered bosoms_.

BLAGUEUR, BLAGUEUSE (familiar), _humbug; story-teller; one who rails at_, _scoffer_.

BLAICHARD (popular), _clerk_, or “quill-driver.”

Et les ouvriers en vidant à midi une bonne chopine, la
trogne allumée, les regards souriants, se moquent des
déjetés, des blaichards.--=RICHEPIN=, _Le Pavé_.

BLAIR, BLAIRE, _m._ (popular), _nose_, “boko,” “smeller,” “snorter,” or “conk.” Se piquer le ----, _to get tipsy_. See SE SCULPTER.

Si les prop’ à rien...
Ont l’droit de s’piquer l’blaire,
Moi qu’ai toujours à faire...
J’peux boire un coup d’bleu.

=RICHEPIN=, _Chanson des Gueux_.

BLAIREAU, _m._ (military), _recruit_, or “Johnny raw;” _a broom_; _foolish young man who aspires to literary honours and who squanders his money in the company of journalistic Bohemians_.

BLANC, _m._ (popular), _street-walker_; _white wine_; _white brandy_; _one-franc piece_. (Printers’) Jeter du ----, _to interline_. (Thieves’) N’être pas ----, _to have a misdeed on one’s conscience_; _to be liable to be_ “wanted.” (Military) Faire faire ---- à quelqu’un de sa bourse, _to draw freely on another’s purse_; _to live at another’s expense in a mean and paltry manner_, “to spunge.” (Familiar) Blanc, _one of the Legitimist party_. The appellation used to be given in 1851 to Monarchists or Bonapartists.

Enfin pour terminer l’histoire,
De mon bœuf blanc ne parlons plus.
Je veux le mener à la foire,
A qui le veut pour dix écus.
De quelque sot fait-il l’affaire,
Je le donne pour peu d’argent,
Car je sais qu’en France on préfère
Le rouge au blanc.

=PIERRE BARRÈRE=, 1851.

BLANCHEMONT, _m._ (thieves’), pivois de ----, _white wine_.

BLANCHES, _f. pl._ (printers’). The different varieties of type are: “blanches, grasses, maigres, allongées, noires, larges, ombrées, perlées, l’Anglaise, l’Américaine, la grosse Normande.”

BLANCHI, _adj._ (popular), mal ----, _negro_, or “darkey.”

BLANCHIR (journalists’), _to make many breaks in one’s manuscript_, _much fresh-a-lining_.

BLANCHISSEUR, _m._ (popular), _barrister_; (literary) _one who revises a manuscript_, _who gives it the proper literary form._

BLANCHISSEUSE DE TUYAUX DE PIPE (popular), _variety of prostitute_. See GADOUE.

BLANC-PARTOUT, _m._ (popular), _pastry-cook’s boy_.

Plus généralement connu sous le nom de gâte-sauce, désigné
aussi sous le nom de blanc-partout, le patronnet est ce
petit bout d’homme que l’on rencontre environ tous les cinq
cents pas.--=RICHEPIN=, _Le Pavé_.

BLANCS, _m. pl._ (familiar), d’Eu, _partisans of the D’Orléans family_; ---- d’Espagne, _Carlists_.

BLANC-VILAIN, _m._ (popular), _man whose functions consist in throwing poisoned meat to wandering dogs_.

BLANQUETTE, _f._ (thieves’), _silver coin_; _silver plate_.

Il tira de sa poche onze couverts d’argent et deux montres
d’or qu’il posa sur le guéridon. 400 balles tout cela,
ce n’est pas cher, les bogues d’Orient et la blanquette,
allons aboule du carle.--=VIDOCQ=, _Mémoires_.

BLANQUETTER (thieves’), _to silver_.

BLANQUETTIER (thieves’), _silverer_.

BLARD, or BLAVARD, _m._ (thieves’), _shawl_.

BLASÉ, E, _adj._ (thieves’), _swollen_. From the German blasen, _to blow_.

BLAVE, BLAVIN, _m._ (thieves’), _handkerchief_, “muckinger” (from the old word blave, _blue_); _necktie_, “neckinger.”

BLAVIN, _m._ (thieves’), _pocket-pistol_, “pops.” An allusion to blavin, _pocket-handkerchief_.

BLAVINISTE, _m._ (thieves’), _pickpocket who devotes his attention to handkerchiefs_, “stook hauler.”

BLÉ, BLÉ BATTU, _m._ (popular), _money_, “loaver.”

BLÈCHE, _adj._, _middling_; _bad_; _ugly_. Faire banque ----, _not to get any pay_. Faire ----, _to make a_ “bad” _at a game, such as the game of fives for instance_.

BLEU, _m._ (military), _recruit_, or “Johnny raw;” _new-comer at the cavalry school of Saumur_; (thieves’) _cloak_; _also name given to Republican soldiers by the Royalist rebels of Brittany in 1793_. After 1815 the Monarchists gave the appellation to Bonapartists. (Popular) Petit ----, _red wine_. Avoir un coup d’----, _to be slightly tipsy_, “elevated.” See POMPETTE.

Quand j’siffle un canon...
C’est pas pour faire l’pantre.
C’est qu’ j’ai plus d’cœur au ventre...
Après un coup d’bleu.

=RICHEPIN=, _Chanson des Gueux_.

(Familiar) Bleu, _adj._ _astounding_; _incredible_; _hard to stomach_. En être ----; en bailler tout ----; en rester tout ----, _to be stupefied, much annoyed or disappointed_, “to look blue;” _to be suddenly in a great rage_. (Theatrical) Etre ----, _to be utterly worthless_.

BLEUE (familiar), elle est ---- celle-là; en voilà une de ----; je la trouve ----, _refers to anything incredible, disappointing, annoying, hard to stomach_. Une colère ----, _violent rage_.

BLÉZIMARDER (theatrical), _to interrupt an actor_.

BLOC, _m._, _military cell_, _prison_, “mill,” “Irish theatre,” “jigger.”

BLOCKAUS, _m._ (military), _shako_.

BLOND, _m._ (popular), beau ----, _man who is neither fair nor handsome_; (thieves’) _the sun_.

BLONDE, _f._ (popular), _bottle of white wine_; _sweetheart_, or “jomer;” _glass of ale at certain cafés_, “brune” _being the denomination for porter_.

BLOQUÉ, _adj._ (printers’), être ---- à la banque, _to receive no pay_.

BLOQUER (military), _to imprison_, _confine_; (popular) _to sell_, _to forsake_; (printers’) _to replace temporarily one letter by another_, _to use a_ “turned sort.”

BLOQUIR (popular), _to sell_.

BLOT, _m._ (popular and thieves’), _price_; _affair_; _concern in anything_; _share_, or “_whack_.” Ça fait mon ----, _that suits me_. Nib dans mes blots, _that is not my affair_; _that does not suit me_.

L’turbin c’est bon pour qui qu’est mouche,
A moi, il fait nib dans mes blots.

=RICHEPIN=, _Chanson des Gueux_.

BLOUMARD, _m._, BLOUME, _f._ (popular), _hat_, “tile.”

BLOUSE, _f._ (familiar), _the working classes_. Mettre quelqu’un dans la ----, _to imprison, or cause one to fall into a snare_. Une blouse is properly _a billiard pocket_.

BLOUSIER, _m._ (familiar), _cad_, “rank outsider.”

BOBE, _m._ (thieves’), _watch_, “tattler.” Faire le ----, _to ease a drunkard of his watch_, “to claim a canon’s red toy.”

BOBÊCHON, _m._ (popular), _head_, “nut.” Se monter le ----, _to be enthusiastic_.

BOBELINS, _m. pl._ (popular), _boots_, “hock-dockies,” or “trotter-cases.” See RIPATONS.

BOBINASSE, _f._ (popular), _head_, “block.”

BOBINE, _f._ (popular), _face_, “mug,” (old word bobe, _grimace_). Une sale ----, _ugly face_. Plus de fil sur la ----. See AVOIR. Se ficher de la ---- à quelqu’un, _to laugh at one_.

Un cocher passe, je l’appelle,
Et j’lui dis: dites donc l’ami;
V’là deux francs, j’prends vot’ berline
Conduisez-moi Parc Monceau.
Deux francs! tu t’fiches d’ma bobine,
Va donc, eh! fourneau!

_Parisian Song_.

BOBINO. See BOBE.

BOBONNE, for bonne, _nursery-maid_; _servant girl_, or “slavey.”

BOBOSSE, _f._ (popular), _humpback_, “lord.”

BOBOTTIER, _m._ (popular), _one who complains apropos of nothing_. From bobo, _a slight ailment_.

BOC, _m._ (popular), _house of ill-fame_, “nanny-shop.”

BOCAL, _m._ (popular), _lodgings_, “crib;” _stomach_, “bread basket.” Se coller quelque chose dans le ----, _to eat_. Se rincer le ----, _to drink_, “to wet one’s whistle.” (Thieves’) Bocal, _pane_, _glass_.

BOCARD, _m._ (popular), _café_; _house of ill-fame_, “nanny-shop;” ---- panné, _small coffee-shop_.

BOCARI, _m._ (thieves’), _the town of Beaucaire_.

BOCHE, _m._ (popular), _rake_, “rip,” “molrower,” or “beard splitter.” Tête de ----, _an expression applied to a dull-witted person_. Literally _wooden head_. Also _a German_.

BOCKER (familiar), _to drink bocks_.

BOCOTTER, _to grumble_; _to mutter_. Literally _to bleat like a_ bocquotte, _goat_.

BOCQUE, BOGUE, _m._ (thieves’), _watch_, “tattler.”

BOCSON (common), _house of ill-fame_, “nanny-shop;” (thieves’) _lodgings_, “dossing-ken.”

Montron ouvre ta lourde,
Si tu veux que j’aboule
Et piausse en ton bocson.

=VIDOCQ=, _Mémoires_.

BŒUF, _m._ (popular), _king of playing cards_; _shoemaker’s workman, or journeyman tailor, who does rough jobs_. Avoir son ----, _to get angry_, “to nab the rust.” Etre le ----, _to work without profit_. Se mettre dans le ----, _to be reduced in circumstances_, an allusion to bœuf bouilli, very plain fare. (Printers’) Bœuf, _composition of a few lines done for an absentee_. Bœuf, _adj._, _extraordinary_, “stunning;” _enormous_; synonymous of “chic” at the Ecole Saint-Cyr; (cads’) _pleasant_.

BŒUFIER, _m._ (popular), _man of choleric disposition_, _one prone_ “to nab his rust.”

BOFFETE, _f._, _box on the ear_, “buck-horse.” From the old word buffet.

BOG, or BOGUE, _f._ (thieves’), _watch_; ---- en jonc, ---- d’orient, _gold watch_, “red ’un,” or “red toy;” ---- en plâtre, _silver watch_, “white ’un.”

J’enflaque sa limace.
Son bogue, ses frusques, ses passes.

=VIDOCQ.=

BOGUISTE (thieves’), _watch-maker_.

BOIRE (printers’), de l’encre _is said of one who on joining a party of boon companions finds all the liquor has been disposed of_. He will then probably exclaim,

Est-ce que vous croyez que je vais boire de
l’encre?--=BOUTMY.=

(Familiar) ---- dans la grande tasse, _to be drowned_; (actors’) ---- du lait, _to obtain applause_; ---- une goutte, _to be hissed_, “to be goosed.”

BOIS, _m._ (cads’), pourri, _tinder_; (thieves’) ---- tortu, _vine_. (Theatrical) Avoir du ----, or mettre du ----, _to have friends distributed here and there among the spectators, whose applause excites the enthusiasm of the audience. Literally to put on fuel_.

BOISSEAU, _m._ (popular), _shako_; _tall hat_, “chimney pot.” For synonyms see TUBARD; _litre wine bottle_.

BOISSONNER (popular), _to drink heavily_, “to swill.”

BOISSONNEUR (popular), _assiduous frequenter of wine-shop_, a “lushington.”

BOISSONNIER (popular), _one who drinks heavily_, a “lushington.”

BOÎTE, _f._ (familiar and popular), _mean house, lodging-house, or restaurant_; _trading establishment managed in an unbusiness-like manner_; _one’s employer’s establishment_; _workshop_; _crammer’s establishment_; _disorderly household_; _carriage_, or “trap;” ---- à cornes, _hat or cap_; ---- à dominos, _coffin_, “cold meat box;” ---- à gaz, _stomach_; ---- à surprises, _the head of a learned man_; ---- à violon, _coffin_; ---- au sel, _head_, “tibby;” ---- aux cailloux, _prison_, “stone-jug;” ---- d’échantillons, _latrine tub_; (thieves’) ---- à Pandore, _box containing soft wax for taking imprints of keyholes_; (military) _guard-room_, “jigger;” ---- aux réflexions, _cells_. Boulotter de la ----, coucher à la ----, _to get frequently locked up_. Grosse ----, _prison_. (Printers) Boîte, _printer’s shop, and more particularly one of the inferior sort_.

“C’est une boîte,” dit un vieux singe; “il y a toujours
mèche, mais hasard! au bout de la quinzaine, banque blèche.”

Faire sa ----, _to distribute into one’s case_. Pilleur de ----, or fricoteur, _one who takes on the sly type from fellow compositor’s case_.

BOITER (popular), des calots, _to squint_, _to be_ “boss-eyed;” (thieves’) ---- des chasses, _to squint_, _to be_ “squinny-eyed.”

BOLÉRO, _m._ (familiar), _a kind of lady’s hat, Spanish fashion_.

BOLIVAR, _m._ (popular), _hat_, “tile.”

BOMBE, _f._ (popular), _wine measure, about half a litre_; (military) ---- de vieux oint, _bladder of lard_. Gare la ----! _look out for squalls!_

BOMBÉ, _m._ (popular), _hunchback_, “lord.”

BON, _man to be relied on in any circumstance_; _one who is_ “game;” _man wanted by the police_. Etre le ----, _to be arrested, or the right man_. Vous êtes ---- vous! _you amuse me! well, that’s good!_ (Printers’) Bon, _proof which bears the author’s intimation_, “bon à tirer,” _for press_. Avoir du ----, _to have some composition not entered in one’s account, and reserved for the next_. (Familiar) Bon jeune homme, _candid young man_, in other terms _greenhorn_; (popular) ---- pour cadet _is said of a dull paper, or of an unpleasant letter_; ---- sang de bon sang, _mild oath elicited by astonishment or indignation_. (Popular and familiar) Etre des bons, _to be all right, safe_. Nous arrivons à temps, nous sommes des bons. Le ---- endroit, _posteriors_. Donner un coup de pied juste au ---- endroit, _to kick one’s behind_, to “hoof one’s bum.” Arriver ---- premier, _to surpass all rivals_, “to beat hollow.”

BONBON, _m._ (popular), _pimple_.

BONBONNIÈRE, _f._ (popular), _latrine tub_; ---- à filous, _omnibus_.

BONDE (thieves’), _central prison_.

BON-DIEU (soldiers’), _sword_. (Popular) Il n’y a pas de ----, _that is_, il n’y a pas de ---- qui puisse empêcher cela. (Convicts’) _Short diary of fatigue parties at the hulks_.

BONDIEUSARD, _m._ (familiar), _bigot_; _dealer in articles used for worship in churches_.

BONDIEUSARDISME, _f._, _bigotry_.

BONDIEUSERIE, _f._, _article used for worship_; _dealing in such articles_.

BONHOMME, _m._ (thieves’), _saint_. (Familiar and popular) Un ----, _an individual_, a “party.” Mon ----, _my good fellow_. Petit ---- de chemin, see ALLER.

BONICARD, _m._, BONICARDE, _f._ (thieves’), _old man, old woman_.

BONIFACE, _m._ (popular), _simple-minded man_, “flat,” or “greenhorn.”

BONIFACEMENT (popular), _with simplicity_.

BONIMENT, _m._ (familiar), _puffing speech of quacks, of mountebanks, of shopmen, of street vendors, of three-card-trick sharpers, and generally clap-trap speech in recommendation or explanation of anything_. Richepin, in his _Pavé_, gives a good specimen of the “boniment” of a “maquilleur de brèmes,” or three-card-trick sharper.

Accroupi, les doigts tripotant trois cartes au ras du sol,
le pif en l’air, les yeux dansants, un voyou en chapeau
melon glapit son boniment d’une voix à la fois traînante
et volubile:.... C’est moi qui perds. Tant pire, mon p’tit
père! Rasé, le banquier! Encore un tour, mon amour. V’là le
cœur, cochon de bonheur! C’est pour finir. Mon fond, qui
se fond. Trèfle qui gagne. Carreau, c’est le bagne. Cœur,
du beurre, pour le voyeur. Trèfle, c’est tabac! Tabac pour
papa. Qui qu’en veut? Un peu, mon neveu! La v’là. Le trèfle
gagne! Le cœur perd. Le carreau perd. Voyez la danse! Ca
recommence. Je le mets là. Il est ici, merci. Vous allez
bien? Moi aussi. Elle passe. Elle dépasse. C’est moi qui
trépasse, hélas!... Regardez bien! C’est le coup de chien.
Passé! C’est assez! Enfoncé! Il y a vingt-cinque francs au
jeu! &c.

BONIQUE, _m._ (thieves’), _white-haired old man_.

BONIR (thieves’), _to talk_; _to say_, “to patter;” ---- au ratichon, _to confess to a priest_.

Le dardant riffaudait ses lombes,
Lubre il bonissait aux palombes,
Vous grublez comme un guichemard.

=RICHEPIN=, _Chanson des Gueux_.

BONISSEUR, _m._, _one who makes a_ “boniment” (which see); (thieves’) _barrister_; ---- de la bate, _witness for the defence_.

BONJOUR, _m._ (thieves’), voleur au ----, bonjourier, or chevalier grimpant, _thief who, at an early hour, enters a house or hotel, walks into a room, and appropriates any suitable article_. If the person in bed wakes up, the rogue politely apologises for his pretended error. Other thieves of the same description commence operations at dinner-time. They enter a dining-room, and seize the silver plate laid out on the table. This is called “goupiner à la desserte.”

BON MOTIF, _m._ (familiar). Faire la cour à une fille pour le ----, _to make love to a girl with honourable intentions_.

BONNE, _adj._ (familiar), _amusing, or the reverse_. Elle est bien ----, _what a good joke! what a joke!_ Elle est ----, celle-là! _well, it is too bad! what next?_ (Popular) Etre à la ----, _to be loved_. Etre de la ----, _to be lucky_. Avoir à la ----, _to like_. Bonne fortanche, _female soothsayer_; ---- grâce, _cloth used by tailors as wrappers_.

BONNET, _m._, _secret covenant among printers_.

Espèce de ligue offensive et défensive que forment quelques
compositeurs employés depuis longtemps dans une maison et
qui ont tous, pour ainsi dire la tête sous le même bonnet.
Rien de moins fraternel que le bonnet. Il fait la pluie
et le beau temps dans un atelier, distribue les mises en
page et les travaux les plus avantageux à ceux qui en font
partie.--=E. BOUTMY=, _Argot des Typographes_.

(Thieves’) ---- carré, _judge_, or “cove with the jazey;” ---- vert à perpète, _one sentenced to penal servitude for life_, or “lifer;” (popular) ---- de coton, _lumbering, weak man_, or “sappy;” _mean man_, or “scurf;” ---- de nuit sans coiffe, _man of a melancholy disposition_, or “croaker;” ---- d’évêque, _rump of a fowl_, or “parson’s nose.” (Familiar) Bonnet, _small box at theatres_; ---- jaune, _twenty-franc coin_; (military) ---- de police, _recruit_, or “Johnny raw.”

BONNETEAU, _m._, jeu de ----, _card-sharping game_; _three-card trick_.

BONNETEUR, _m._, _card-sharper_, or “broadsman.”

BONNICHON, _m._ (popular), _working girl’s cap_.

BONO (popular), _good_, _middling_.

BONS, _m._ (military), la sonnerie des ---- de tabac, (ironical) _trumpet call for those confined to barracks_.

BORDÉ (cocottes’), être ----, _to have renounced the pleasures of love_, “_sua sponte_,” _or otherwise_. Literally _to be lying in bed with the bed-clothes tucked in_.

BORDÉE, _f._ (familiar and popular), _unlawful absence_. Tirer une ----, _to absent oneself for some amusement of a questionable character_; _to go_ “on the booze.”

La paie de grande quinzaine emplissait le trottoir d’une
bousculade de gouapeurs tirant une bordée.--=ZOLA.=

Bordée de coups de poings, _rapid delivery of blows_, or “fibbing.”

BORDEL, _m._ (popular), _small faggot_; _tools_; ---- ambulant, _hackney coach_.

BORDELIER (popular), _libertine_, “molrower,” or “mutton-monger.”

BORGNE, _m._ (cads’), _breech_, or “blind cheek;” _ace of cards_; ---- de cœur, _ace of hearts_, “pig’s eye.”

BORGNER (cads’), _to look_.

BORGNIAT (popular), _one-eyed man_, “boss-eyed.”

BORNE DE VIEUX OINT, _f._ (popular), _bladder of lard_.

BOS (Breton), _well_; _well done!_

BOSCO, BOSCOT, BOSCOTTE, _stunted man or woman_; _hunchback_.

BOSSE, _f._ (familiar), _excessive eating and drinking_; _excess of any kind_. Se donner, se flanquer une ----, _to get a good fill_, “a tightener.” Se faire des bosses, _to amuse oneself amazingly_. Se donner, se flanquer une ---- de rire, _to split with laughter_. Rouler sa ----, _to go along_. Tomber sur la ----, _to attack_, to “pitch into.”

BOSSELARD, _m._ (familiar), _silk hat_, “tile.”

BOSSER (popular), _to laugh_; _to amuse oneself_.

BOSSMAR, _m._ (thieves’), _hunchback_, “lord.”

BOSSOIRS, _m. pl._ (sailors’), _bosoms_. Gabarit sans ----, _thin breasts_.

BOTTE, _f._ (popular), de neuf jours, or en gaîté, _boot out at the sole_. Jours, literally _days_, _chinks_. Du jus de ----, _kicks_. (Sailors’) Jus de ---- premier brin, _rum of the first quality_.

BOTTER (popular), _to suit_. Ça me botte, _that just suits me, just the thing for me_. Botter, _to kick one’s breech_, or “to toe one’s bum,” “to root,” or “to land a kick.”

BOTTIER (popular), _one who is fond of kicking_.

BOUANT, _m._ (cads’), _pig_, or “angel.” From boue, _mud_.

BOUBANE, _f._ (thieves’), _wig_, “periwinkle.”

BOUBOUAR (Breton), _ox_; _cattle in general_.

BOUBOUERIEN (Breton), _threshing machine_.

BOUBOUILLE (popular), _bad cookery_.

BOUC, _m._ (popular), _husband whose wife is unfaithful to him_, a “cuckold.” Properly _he-goat_; (familiar) _beard on chin_, “goatee.”

BOUCAN, _m._, _great uproar_, “shindy.”

J’ai ma troupe, je distribue les rôles, j’organise
la claque.... J’établis la contre-partie pour les
interruptions et le boucan.--=MACÉ.=

(Popular) Donner un ---- à quelqu’un, _to give a blow or_ “clout” _to one_.

BOUCANADE, _f._ (thieves’), _bribing or_ “greasing” _a witness_. Coquer la ----, _to bribe_. Literally _to treat to drink_. In Spain wine is inclosed in goatskins, hence the expression.

BOUCANER (popular), _to make a great uproar_; _to stink_.

BOUCANEUR, _m._ (popular), _one fond of women, who goes_ “molrowing,” or a “mutton-monger.”

BOUCANIÈRE, _f._ (popular), _woman too fond of men_.

BOUCARD, _m._ (thieves’), _shop_, “chovey.”

BOUCARDIER, _m._ (thieves’), _thief who breaks into shops_.

BOUCHE-L’ŒIL, _m._ (prostitutes’), _a five, ten, or twenty-franc piece_.

BOUCHER (thieves’), _surgeon_, “nimgimmer;” (familiar) ---- un trou, _to pay part of debt_; (popular) ---- la lumière, _to give a kick in the breech_, “to hoof one’s bum,” or “to land a kick.” Lumière, properly _touch-hole_.

BOUCHE-TROU, _m._ The best scholars in all University colleges are allowed to compete at a yearly examination called “grand concours.” The “bouche-trou” is one who acts as a substitute for anyone who for some reason or other finds himself prevented from competing. (Literary) _Literary production used as a makeshift_; (theatrical) _actor whose functions are to act as a substitute in a case of emergency_.

BOUCHON, _m._ (thieves’), _purse_, “skin,” or “poge;” (popular) _a younger brother_; _bottle of wine with a waxed cork_; _quality, kind_, “kidney.” Etre d’un bon ----, _to be an amusing, good-humoured fellow_, or a “brick.” S’asseoir sur le ----, _to sit on the bare ground_.

BOUCLAGE, _m._ (thieves’), _handcuffs_, or “bracelets;” _bonds_; _imprisonment_.

BOUCLÉ (thieves’), _imprisoned_, or “slowed.”

BOUCLER (thieves’), _to shut_, “to dub;” _to imprison_. Bouclez la lourde! _shut the door!_

BOUCLE ZOZE, _m._ (thieves’), _brown bread_.

BOUDER (literally _to be sulky_) _is said of a player who does not call for fresh dominoes when he has the option of doing so_; (popular) ---- à l’ouvrage, _to be lazy_; ---- au feu, _to show fear_; ---- aux dominos, _to be minus several teeth_.

BOUDIN, _m._ (thieves’), _bolt_; _stomach_.

BOUDINÉ, _m._ (familiar), _swell_, or “masher.” At the time the expression came into use, dandies sported tight or horsey-looking clothes, which imparted to the wearer some vague resemblance with a boudin, or _large sausage_. For list of synonymous expressions, see GOMMEUX.

BOUDINS, _m. pl._ (popular), _fat fingers and hands_.

BOUEUX, _m._ (popular), _scavenger_.

BOUFFARD, _m._ (popular), _smoker_.

BOUFFARDE, _f._ (popular), _pipe_, or “cutty.”

BOUFFARDER (popular), _to smoke_, to “blow a cloud.”

BOUFFARDIÈRE, _f._ (popular), _an estaminet, that is, a café where smoking is allowed_; _chimney_.

BOUFFE, _f._ (popular), _box on the ear_, “buckhorse.”

BOUFFE-LA-BALLE, _m._, _gormandizer_, _or_ “stodger;” _man with a fat, puffed-up, dumpling face_.

BOUFFER (military), la botte, _to be bamboozled by a woman_, in what circumstances it is needless to say. (Popular) Bouffer, _to eat_. Se ---- le nez, _to fight_.

BOUFFETER (popular), _to chat_.

BOUFFEUR, _m._ (popular), de blanc, _prostitute’s bully_, “pensioner;” ---- de kilomètres, _a nickname for the “Chasseurs de Vincennes,” a picked body of rifles who do duty as skirmishers and scouts, and who are noted for their agility_.

BOUFFIASSE, _m._ (popular), _man with fat, puffed-up cheeks_.

BOUGIE, _f._ (popular), _walking-stick_; _a blind man’s stick_; ---- grasse, _candle_.

BOUGRE, _m._ (popular), _stalwart and plucky man, one who is_ “spry;” ---- à poils, _dauntless, resolute man_. Bon ----, _a good fellow_, a “brick.” Mauvais ----, _man of a snarling, evil-minded disposition_. The word is used often with a disparaging sense, Bougre de cochon, _you dirty pig_; ---- de serin, _you ass_. Littré derives the word bougre from Bulgarus, _Bulgarian_. The heretic Albigeois, who shared the religious ideas of some of the Bulgarians, received the name of “bougres.”

BOUGREMENT (popular), _extremely_. C’est ---- difficile, _it is awfully hard_.

BOUI, _m._ (popular), _house of ill-fame_, “nanny-shop.”

BOUIBOUI, BOUISBOUIS, _m._ _puppet_; _small theatre_; _low music-hall_; _gambling place_.

BOUIF, _m._ (popular), _conceited_ “priggish” _person_; _bad workman_.

BOUILLABAISSE (popular), _confused medley of things, people, or ideas_. Properly _a Provençal dish made up of all kinds of fish boiled together, with spicy seasoning, garlic, &c._

BOUILLANTE, _f._ (soldiers’), _soup_.

BOUILLIE, _f._ (popular), pour les chats, _unsuccessful undertaking_. Faire de la ---- pour les chats, _to do any useless thing_.

BOUILLON, _m._ (familiar and popular), _rain_; _unsold numbers of a book or newspaper_; _financial or business losses_; ---- aveugle, _thin broth_; ---- de canard, _water_; ---- de veau, _mild literature_; ---- d’onze heures, _poison_; _drowning_; ---- gras, _sulphuric acid_ (an allusion to a case of vitriol-throwing by a woman named Gras); ---- pointu, _bayonet thrust_; _clyster_; ---- qui chauffe, _rain-cloud_. Boire le ----, _to die_. (Fishermens’) Bouillon de harengs, _shoal of herrings_.

BOUILLONNER (popular), _to suffer pecuniary losses consequent on the failure of an undertaking_; _to have a bad sale_; _to eat at a bouillon restaurant_.

BOUILLONNEUSE, _f._, _female who prepares bouillon at restaurants_.

BOUILLOTE, _f._ (popular), vieille ----, _old fool_, “doddering old sheep’s head.”

BOUIS, _m._ (thieves’), _whip_.

BOUISER, _to whip_, “to flush.”

BOULAGE, _m._ (popular), _refusal_; _snub_.

BOULANGE, _f._, for boulangerie.

BOULANGER, _m._ (thieves’), _charcoal dealer_; _the devil_, “old scratch,” or “Ruffin.” Le ---- qui met les damnés au four, _the devil_. Remercier son ----, _to die_.

BOULANGERS, _m. pl._ (military), _formerly military convicts_ (an allusion to their light-coloured vestments).

BOULE, _f._ (popular), _head_, “block.” Avoir la ---- détraquée, à l’envers, _to be crazy_, “wrong in the upper storey.” Boule de jardin, _bald pate_, “bladder of lard;” ---- de Siam, _grotesque head_; ---- de singe, _ugly face_. Bonne ----, _queer face_, “rum phiz.” Perdre la ----, _to lose one’s head_. Boule de neige, _negro_; ---- rouge, _gay girl of the Quartier de la Boule Rouge, Faubourg Montmartre_. Yeux en ---- de loto, _goggle eyes_. (Military) Boule de son, _loaf, bread_. (Thieves’) Boule, _a fair_; _prison loaf_; ---- de son étamé, _white bread_; ---- jaune, _pumpkin_.

BOULEAU, _m._ See BÛCHERIE.

BOULE-MICHE, _m._, abbreviation of _Boulevard Saint-Michel_.

BOULENDOS, _m._ (boule en dos), (popular), _humpback_, or “lord.”

BOULER (popular), _to thrash_, “to whop;” _to beat at a game, to deceive, to take in_. Envoyer ----, _to send to the deuce_ (old word bouler, _to roll along_).

BOULET, _m._ (popular), _bore_; ---- à côtes, à queue, _melon_; ---- jaune, _pumpkin_.

BOULETTE, _f._ (popular), de poivrot, _bunch of grapes_ (poivrot, slang term for _drunkard_).

BOULEUR, _m._, BOULEUSE, _f._ (theatrical), _actor or actress who takes the part of absentees in the performance_.

BOULEUX, _m._ (popular), _skittle player_.

BOULEVARDER, _to be a frequenter of the Boulevards_.

BOULEVARDIER, _m._, _one who frequents the Boulevards_; _journalist who is a frequenter of the Boulevard cafés_. Esprit ----, _kind of wit peculiar to the Boulevardiers_.

BOULEVARDIÈRE, _f._ (familiar), _prostitute of a better class who walks the Boulevards_.

Depuis cinq heures du soir la Boulevardière va du grand
Hôtel à Brébant avec la régularité implacable d’un
balancier de pendule.--=PAUL MAHALIN.=

BOULIN, _m._ (thieves’), _hole_. Caler des boulins aux lourdes, _to bore holes in the doors_.

BOULINE, _f._ (swindlers’), _collection of money_, “break,” or “lead.”

BOULINER (thieves’), _to bore holes in a wall or shutters_; _to steal by means of the above process_.

BOULINGUER (thieves’), _to tear_; _to conduct an affair_; _to manage_. Se ----, _to know how to conduct oneself_; _to behave_.

BOULOIRE, _f._ (popular), _bowling-green_.

BOULON, _m._ (thieves’), vol au ----, _theft by means of a rod and hook passed through a hole in the shutters_.

BOULONNAISE (popular), _girl of indifferent character who walks the Bois de Boulogne_.

BOULOTS, _m._ (popular), _round shaped beans_.

BOULOTTER (thieves’), _to assist a comrade_; (popular) _to be in good health_; _to be prosperous_; _to eat_, “to grub;” ---- de la galette, _to spend money_.

Et tout le monde se disperse, vivement, excepté les trois
compères et le môme, qui rentrent d’un pas tranquille dans
Paris, pour y fricoter l’argent des imbéciles, y boulotter
la galette des sinves.--RICHEPIN, _Le Pavé_.

Eh! bien, ma vieille branche! comment va la place d’armes? Merci, ça boulotte. _Well, old cock, how are you? Thanks, I am all right_.

BOUM! _a high-sounding, ringing word bawled out in a grave key by café waiters in order to emphasize their call for coffee to the attendant whose special duty it is to pour it out_. Versez à l’as! Boum! This peculiar call was brought into fashion by a waiter of the Café de la Rotonde at the Palais Royal, whose stentorian voice made the fortune of the establishment.

BOUQUET, _m._ (cads’), _gift, present_.

BOUQUINE, _f._, _beard grown on the chin_, or “goatee.”

BOURBE, _f._ (popular), _the hospital of “la Maternité_.”

BOURBON (popular), _nose_, “boko.” From nez à la Bourbon, the members of that dynasty being distinguished by prominent thick noses verging on the aquiline.

BOURDON, _m._ (thieves’), _prostitute_, “bunter;” (printers’) _words left out by mistake in composing_.

BOURDONNISTE, _m._ (printers’), _one in the habit of making_ bourdons (which see).

BOURGEOIS, _m._ (thieves’), for bourg, _a large village_. Literally _man of the middle class_. The peasants give this appellation to the townspeople; a coachman to his “fare;” workmen and servants to their employer; workpeople to the master of a house; soldiers to civilians; artists and literary men use it contemptuously to denote a man with matter-of-fact, unartistic tastes, also a man outside their profession; the anarchists apply the epithet to one who does not share their views. (Popular) Mon ----, _my husband_, “my old man.” Eh! dites donc, ----, _I say, governor_. (Officers’) Se mettre en ----, _to dress in plain clothes, in_ “mufti.” (Familiar) C’est bien ----, _it is vulgar, devoid of taste_.

BOURGEOISADE, _f._, _anything, whether it be deed or thought, which savours of the bourgeois’ ways_; _a vulgar platitude_. The bourgeois, in the disparaging sense of the term of course, is a man of a singularly matter-of-fact, selfish disposition, and one incapable of being moved by higher motives than those of personal interest. His doings, his mode of life, all his surroundings bear the stamp of an unrefined idiosyncrasy. Though a staunch Conservative at heart, he is fond of indulging in a timid, mild opposition to Government, yet he even goes so far sometimes as to send to Parliament men whose views are at variance with his own, merely to give himself the pleasure of “teaching a lesson” to the “powers that be.” A man of Voltairian tendencies, yet he allows his wife and daughters to approach the perilous secrecy and the allurements of the confessional. When he happens to be a Republican, he rants furiously about equality, yet he protests that it is a shocking state of affairs which permits of his only son and spoilt child being made to serve in the ranks by the side of the workman or clodhopper. By no means a fire-eater, he is withal a bloodthirsty mortal and a loud-tongued Chauvinist, but as he has the greatest respect for the integrity of his person, and entertains a perfect horror of blows, he likes to see others carry out for him his pugnacious aspirations in a practical way.

BOURGEOISE, _f._ (popular), _the mistress of a house or establishment_. Ma ----, _my wife_, “my old woman.”

BOURGERON, _m._ (popular), _small glass of brandy_; (soldiers’) _a civilian_. Properly _a kind of short smock-frock_.

BOURGUIGNON (popular), _the sun_.

BOURLINGUE, _m._ (popular), _dismissal_, “the sack.”

BOURLINGUER, _to dismiss_; _to get on with difficulty in life_. From a naval term.

BOURLINGUEUR, _m._ (popular), _master_, “boss;” _foreman_.

BOURRASQUE, _f._ (thieves’), _raid by the police_.

BOURREAU DES CRÂNES, _m._ (military), _bully_, _fire-eater_.

BOURRE-BOYAUX, _m._ (popular), _eating-house_, “grubbing crib.”

BOURRE-COQUINS, _m. pl._ (popular), _beans_. Beans form the staple food of convicts.

BOURRE-DE-SOIE, _f._ (cads’), _kept girl_, “poll.”

BOURRÉE, _f._ (popular), _hustling_, “hunch.”

BOURRER (familiar), en ---- une, _to smoke a pipe_, “to blow a cloud.”

BOURREUR, _m._ (thieves’), de pègres, _penal code_; (printers’) ---- de lignes, _compositor of the body part of a composition_, a task generally entrusted to unskilled compositors, unable to deal with more intricate work.

BOURRICHE, _f._ (popular), _blockhead_, “cabbage-head.” Properly _hamper_.

BOURRICHON, _m._ (popular), _head_. See TRONCHE. Se monter, or se charpenter le ----, _to entertain strong illusions_, _to be too sanguine_.

BOURRICOT (popular), c’est ----, _that comes to the same thing_; _it is all the same to me_.

BOURRIER, _m._ (popular), _dirt_, _dung_.

BOURRIQUE, _f._ (popular), tourner en ----, _to become stupid, or crazy_. Faire tourner quelqu’un en ----, _to make one crazy by dint of badgering or angering_. Cet enfant est toujours à me tourmenter, il me fera tourner en ----, _this naughty child will drive me mad_. (Thieves’) Bourrique, _informer_, “nark;” also _police officer_.

BOURRIQUE À ROBESPIERRE (popular), comme la ----, corresponds to the simile _like blazes_. Saoul comme la ----, _awfully drunk_.

BOURSER (popular), se ----, _to go to bed_, _to get into the_ “doss.”

BOURSICOTER (familiar), _to speculate in a small way on the stocks_.

BOURSICOTEUR, _f._, BOURSICOTIER, _m._ (familiar), _speculator in a small way_.

BOURSICOTIÉRISME, _m._ (familiar), _occupation of those who speculate on ’Change_.

BOURSILLONNER (popular), _to_ “club” _for expenses by each contributing a small sum_.

BOUSCAILLE, _f._ (thieves’), _mud_.

BOUSCAILLEUR, _street-sweeper_, _scavenger_.

BOUSE, _f._ (popular), de vache, _spinach_.

BOUSILLER (popular), _to work rapidly but carelessly and clumsily_.

BOUSILLEUR (popular), _careless_, _clumsy workman_.

BOUSILLEUSE (popular), _woman who is careless of her belongings_, _who is the reverse of thrifty_.

BOUSIN, _m._ (popular), _uproar_, _disturbance_, _row_, “shindy,” _drinking-shop_, “lush-crib;” _house of ill-fame_, “flash drum.”

BOUSINEUR (popular), _an adept at creating a disturbance_.

BOUSINGOT, _m._ (popular) _wine-shop_, “lush-crib;” _Republican or literary Bohemian in the earlier years of Louis Philippe_.

BOUSSOLE, _f._ (familiar), _head_, _brains_. Perdre la ----, _to lose one’s head_, “to be at sea;” _to become mad_. (Popular) Boussole de refroidi, or de singe, _a Dutch cheese_.

BOUSTIFAILLE, _f._ (familiar), _provisions_, _food_, “grub.”

BOUSTIFAILLER, _to eat plentifully_.

BOUT, _m._ (tailors’), flanquer son ----, _to dismiss from one’s employment_. (Military) Bout de cigare, _short man_; (popular) ---- de cul, _short person_, or “forty foot;” ---- d’homme, de femme, _undersized person_, or “hop o’ my thumb;” ---- coupé, _kind of cheap cigar with a clipped end_.

BOUTANCHE, _f._ (thieves’), _shop_, “chovey.” Courtaud de ----, _shopman_, a “knight of the yard.”

BOUTEILLE, _f._ (popular), _nose_, “boko.” Avoir un coup de ----, _to be tipsy_. C’est la ---- à l’encre _is said of any mysterious, incomprehensible affair_. (Printers’) Une ---- à encre, _a printing establishment, thus called on account of the difficulty of drawing up accurate accounts of authors’ corrections_.

BOUTERNE, _f._ (popular), _glazed case containing jewels exhibited as prizes for the winners at a game of dice_. The game is played at fairs with eight dice, loaded of course.

BOUTERNIER, _m._, BOUTERNIÈRE, _f._, _proprietor of a_ bouterne (which see).

BOUTIQUE, _f._, _used disparagingly to denote one’s employer’s office_; _newspaper offices_; _disorderly house of business_; _clique_. Esprit de ----, _synonymous of esprit de corps, but used disparagingly_. Etre de la ----, _to be one of, to belong to a political clique or administration of any description_. Montrer toute sa ----, _is said of a girl or woman who accidentally or otherwise exposes her person_. Parler ----, _to talk shop_.

BOUTIQUER (popular), _to do anything with reluctance_; _to do it badly_.

BOUTIQUIER, _m._ (familiar), _narrow-minded or mean man_. Literally _shopkeeper_.

BOUTOGUE, _f._ (thieves’), _shop_, or “chovey.”

BOUTON, _m._ (thieves’), _master key_; (popular) _twenty-franc piece_; ---- de guêtre, _five-franc gold-piece_; ---- de pieu, _bug_, or “German duck.”

BOUTONNER (familiar), _to touch with the foil_; _to annoy, to bore_.

BOUTURE, _f._ (popular), de putain, low, insulting epithet, which may be rendered by the equally low one, _son of a bitch_. Bouture, _slip of a plant_.

BOXON, _m._ (popular), _brothel_, or “nanny-shop.”

BOYAU, _m._ (popular), rouge, _hard drinker_, or “rare lapper.”

BOYE, _m._ (thieves’), _warder_, or “bloke;” _convict who performs the functions of executioner at the convict settlements of Cayenne or New Caledonia_.

BRAC, _m._ (thieves’), _name_, “monniker,” or “monarch.”

BRACONNER (gamesters’), _to cheat_, or “to bite.” Properly _to poach_.

BRADER (popular), _to sell articles dirt cheap_.

BRAILLANDE, BRAILLARDE, _f._ (thieves’), _drawers_. From the old word braies, _breeches_.

BRAILLARD, _m._ (popular), _street singer_, or “street pitcher.” According to the _Slang Dictionary_, the latter term applies to negro minstrels, ballad-singers, long-song men, men “working a board” on which has been painted various exciting scenes in some terrible drama, &c.

BRAISE, _f._ (popular), _money_, “loaver.” See QUIBUS.

J’ai pas d’braise pour me fend’ d’un litre,
Pas même d’un meulé cass’ à cinq.

=RICHEPIN.=

BRAISER (popular), _to pay_, “to dub.”

BRAISEUR (popular), _man who is very free with his money_.

BRANCARD (popular), _superannuated gay woman_.

BRANCARDS, _m. pl._ (popular), _hands_, or “flappers;” _legs_, or “pins;” ---- de laine, _weak or lame legs_.

Un poseur qui veut me la faire à la redresse, que ces deux
flûtes repêchées par vous dans la lance du puits n’avaient
jamais porté une femme, je me connais en brancards de
dames, c’est pas ça du tout.--=MACÉ=, _Mon Premier Crime_.

BRANCHE, _f._ (popular), _friend_, “mate.” Ma vieille ----, _old fellow!_ “old cock!” (Familiar) Avoir de la ----, _to have elegance_, “dash.”

BRANCHER (thieves’ and cads’), _to lodge_, “to perch,” or “roost.”

BRANDILLANTE, BRANDILLEUSE, _f._ (thieves’), _bell_, or “ringer.”

BRANLANTE, _f._ (popular), _watch_, or “ticker.”

BRANLANTES, _f. pl._ (popular), _old men’s teeth_.

BRANQUE, _m._ (thieves’), _donkey_, “moke.”

BRAS, BRASSE, _adj._ (thieves’), _large_. From brasse, _a fathom_.

BRASER (thieves’), des faffes, _to forge documents_, to “screeve fakements;” _to forge bank-notes_, or to “fake queer-soft.”

BRASSET, _m._ (thieves’), _big, stout man_.

BRAVE, _m._ (popular), _shoemaker_, or “snob.”

BRÉCHET, _m._ (popular), _stomach_.

BRÈCHETELLES, _f._, _a kind of German cakes eaten at beershops_.

BREDA-STREET, _the quarter of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette patronized by women of the demi-monde_ (the Paris Pimlico, or St. John’s Wood).

BREDOCHE, _f._ (popular), _centime_.

BREDOUILLE, _f._ (popular), chevalier de la ----, _one who goes out shooting on Sundays in the purlieus of Paris_. From revenir bredouille, _to return with an empty bag_.

BRELOQUE, _f._ (popular), _a clock_. Properly _watch trinket_.

BRÈME, _m. and f._ (popular), _vendor of countermarks at the door of theatres_. Une ----, _f._ (thieves’), _playing card_, “flat,” or “broad” (brème is a flat fish, _the bream_). Une ---- de pacquelins, _geographical map_. Maquiller les brèmes, _to handle cards, to play at cards_, “to fake broads;” _to mark cards in certain ways, to construct them on a cheating principle_, “to stock briefs.” Maquilleur de brèmes, _card-sharper_, or “broadsman,” _generally one whose spécialité is the three-card trick_.

Le perdant, blème, crispe ses poings. Les compères
s’approchent du maquilleur de brèmes (tripoteur de cartes),
qui s’est relevé, avec un éclair mauvais dans ses yeux
ternes ... il se recule et siffle. A ce signal arrive un
gosse, en courant, qui crie d’une voix aiguë: Pet! v’là la
rousse! Décanillons!--=RICHEPIN=, _Le Pavé_.

(Prostitutes’) Une brème, _card delivered by the police to registered prostitutes_. Fille en ----, _registered prostitute_.

BRÊMEUR, _m._ (thieves’), _card player_, “broad faker.”

BRÊMIER, _m._ (thieves’), _manufacturer of playing cards_.

BRÉSILIEN, _m._ (popular), _wealthy, generous man_, “rag-splawger.”

BRICABRACOLOGIE, _art of dealing in or collecting bric-à-brac or knick-knacks_.

BRICARD, _m._ (popular), _staircase_.

BRICHETON, _m._ (popular), _bread_; ---- d’attaque, _four-pound loaf_.

BRICOLE, _f._ (popular), _small, odd jobs that only procure scanty profits_. Properly _a shoulder-strap used by costermongers to draw their barrows_.

BRICOLER (popular), _to make an effort_; _to give a good pull_; _to do anything in a hurried and clumsy manner_; _to carry on some affair in a not over straightforward way_.

BRICOLEUR, _m._ (popular), _man who will undertake any kind of work, any sundry jobs_.

BRICUL, BRICULÉ, _m._ (thieves’), _police inspector_.

BRIDAUKIL (thieves’), _gold watch chain_, “redge slang,” or “red tackle.”

BRIDE, _f._ (thieves’), _watch chain_, “slang;” _convict’s chain_. (Popular) Vieille ----, _worthless, discarded object_; _term of contempt for individuals_.

BRIDÉ (thieves’), _shackled_.

BRIDER (thieves’), _to shut_, “to dub;” _to fasten on a fetter_, or “wife.”

BRIF (Breton), _bread_.

BRIFFE, _f._ (popular), _food_, “belly timber;” _bread_, “tommy.” Passer à ----, _to eat_, “to grub.”

N’importe où nous nous empatons
D’arlequins, d’briffe et d’rogatons.

=RICHEPIN=, _Chanson des Gueux_.

BRIFFER (popular), _to eat_, “to grub.”

BRIGADIER, _m._ (popular), _baker’s foreman_.

BRIGAND, _m._ (popular), _term of friendliness_. Vieux ----, _you old scamp!_

BRIGANT, BRIGEANT, _m._ (thieves’), _hair_, or “strommel.”

BRIGANTE or BRINGEANTE, _f._ (thieves’), _wig_, or “periwinkle.”

BRIGEANTS or BRINGEANTS, _m. pl._ (thieves’), _hair_, “thatch.” Termed also “tifs, douilles, douillards.”

BRIGETON, BRICHETON (popular), _bread_, “tommy.”

BRIG-FOURRE, _m._ (military), _brigadier fourrier_.

BRIGNOLET, _m._ (popular), _bread_, “tommy.”

BRILLER (thieves’), _to light_.

BRIMADE, _f._ (military), _euphemism for bullying_; _practical and often cruel jokes perpetrated at the military school of Saint-Cyr at the expense of the newly joined_, termed “melons” (“snookers” at the R. M. Academy), such as tossing one in a blanket, together with boots, spurs, and brushes, or trying him by a mock court-martial for some supposed offence. An illustration with a vengeance of such practical joking occurred some years ago at an English garrison town. Some young officers packed up a colleague’s traps, without leaving in the rooms a particle of property, nailed the boxes to the floor, and laid a he-goat in the bed. On the victim’s arrival they left him no time to give vent to his indignant feelings, for they cast him into a fisherman’s net and dragged him downstairs, with the result that the unfortunate officer barely escaped with his life.

BRIMER, _to indulge in_ brimades (which see).

BRINDE, _f._ (popular), _tall, lanky woman_; _landlord of a wine shop_.

BRINDEZINGUE, _m._ (thieves’), _tin case of very small diameter containing implements, such as a fine steel saw or a watch-spring, which they secrete in a peculiar manner_. Says Delvau:--

Comment arrivent-ils à soustraire cet instrument de
délivrance aux investigations les plus minutieuses des
geôliers? C’est ce qu’il faut demander à M. le docteur
Ambroise Tardieu qui a fait une étude spéciale des maladies
de la gaîne naturelle de cet étui.

(Mountebanks’) Etre en ----, _to be ruined_, _a bankrupt_, “cracked up,” or “gone to smash.”

BRINDEZINGUES, _m. pl._ (popular), être dans les ----, _to be intoxicated_. From an old word brinde, _toast_.

BRINGUE, _m._ (popular), _bread_, or “soft tommy.” Mettre en ----, _to smash up_.

BRIO, _m._ (familiar). Properly a _musical term_. Figuratively, Parler, écrire avec ----, _to speak or write with spirit, in dashing style_.

BRIOCHES, _f._ _pl._ (popular). Literally _gross mistake_. Figuratively, Faire des ----, _to lead a disorderly life_.

BRIOLET, _m._ (popular), _thin, sour wine_, that is, “vin de Brie.”

BRIQUEMANN, BRIQUEMON, _m._ (military), _cavalry sword_.

BRIQUEMON, _m._ (thieves’), _tinder box_.

BRISAC, _m._ (popular), _careless child who tears his clothes_.

BRISACQUE, _m._ (popular), _noise_; _noisy man_.

BRISANT, _m._ (thieves’), _the wind_.

BRISCARD or BRISQUE, _m._ (military), _old soldier with long-service stripes_.

BRISE, _f._ (sailors’), à faire plier le pouce, _violent gale_; ---- à grenouille, _west wind_.

BRISER (printers’), _to cease working_. (Popular) Se la ----, _to go away_, “to mizzle.” See PATATROT.

BRISEUR, _m._ The “briseurs” (gens qui se la brisent), according to Vidocq, are natives of Auvergne who pass themselves off for tradesmen. They at first gain the confidence of manufacturers or wholesale dealers by paying in cash for a few insignificant orders, and swindle them afterwards on larger ones. The goods, denominated “brisées,” are then sold much under value, and the unlawful proceeds are invested in Auvergne.

BRISQUE, _f._ (thieves’), _year_, or “stretch.”

BRISQUES, _f. pl._ (gamblers’), _the ace and figures in a pack of cards_. When a player possesses all these in his game he is said to have “la triomphe;” (military) _stripes_.

BRISURE, _f._ (thieves’), _swindle_, or “plant;” (printers’) _temporary cessation of work_. Grande ----, _total stoppage of work_.

Au Rappel, la pige dure six heures avec une brisure d’une
demi-heure à dix heures.--=BOUTMY.=

BROBÈCHE, _m._ (popular), _centime_.

BROBUANTE, _f._ (thieves’), _ring_, “fawney.”

BROC, _m._ (thieves’), _farthing_, or “fadge.”

BROCANTE, _m._ (popular), _old shoe_.

BROCANTER (familiar), _to be pottering about_.

BROCHE, _f._ (tradespeoples’), _note of hand_, or “stiff.”

BROCHES, _f. pl._ (popular), _teeth_, or “head rails.”

BROCHET, _m._ (popular), _pit of the stomach_, for bréchet; _women’s bully_, or “ponce.”

BROCHETON, _m._ (popular), _young bully_.

BROCHURE, _f._ (theatrical), _printed play_.

BRODAGE, _m._ (thieves’), _writing_.

BRODANCHER (thieves’), _to write_; _to embroider_. Tirants brodanchés, _embroidered stockings_.

BRODANCHEUR, _m._ (thieves’), _writer_; ---- en cage, _scribe who for a consideration will undertake to do an illiterate person’s correspondence_ (termed écrivain public); ---- à la plaque, aux macarons, or à la cymbale, _notary public_ (an allusion to the escutcheon placed over a notary’s door).

BRODÉ, _m._ (thieves’), _melon_.

BRODER (thieves’), _to write_; ---- sur les prêts _is said of a gamester who, having lent a colleague a small sum of money, claims a larger amount than is due to him._

BRODERIE, _f._ (thieves’), _writing_.

Pas de broderie, par exemple, tu connais le proverbe,
les écrits sont des mâles, et les paroles sont des
femelles.--=VIDOCQ=, _Mémoires_.

BRODEUR, _m._ (thieves’), _writer_; also _a gamester who claims a larger sum than is due to him._

BROQUE, _m._ (thieves’), _farthing_. Il n’y a ni ronds, ni herplis, ni broque en ma felouse. _I haven’t got a sou, or a farthing, in my pocket._

BROQUILLAGE, _m._ (thieves’), _theft which consists in substituting paste diamonds for the genuine article which a jeweller displays for the supposed purchaser’s inspection_.

BROQUILLE, _f._ (theatrical), _nothing_. Used in the expression, Ne pas dire une ----, _not to know a single word of one’s part_; (thieves’) _a ring_, or “fawney;” _a minute_.

BROQUILLEUR, _m._, BROQUILLEUSE, _f._ (thieves’), _thief who robs jewellers by substituting paste diamonds for the genuine which are shown to him as to a bonâ-fide purchaser_.

BROSSE (popular), _no_; _nothing_; ---- pour lui! _he shan’t have any!_

BROSSER (familiar), se ---- le ventre, _to go without food, and, in a figurative sense, to be compelled to do without something_.

BROSSEUR, _m._ (artists’), _one who paints numerous pictures of very large dimensions_. Rubens was a “brosseur;” (military) _flatterer_, _one who_ “sucks up.”

BROUCE, _f._ (popular), _thrashing_, “whopping.”

BROUF, _m._ (codfishers’), _wind blowing from the main_.

BROUILLARD, _m._ (popular), chasser le ----, _to have a morning drop of spirits_, “dewdrop.” Etre dans le ----, _to be_ “fuddled,” _or tipsy_. Faire du ----, _to smoke_, “to blow a cloud.”

BROUILLE, _f._, _series of pettifogging contrivances which a lawyer brings into play to squeeze as much profit as he can out of a law affair_.

BROUILLÉ, _adj._ (familiar), avec la monnaie, _penniless_, “hard up;” ---- avec sa blanchisseuse, _with linen not altogether of a snow-white appearance_; ---- avec l’orthographe, _a bad speller_.

BROUSSAILLES, _f. pl._ (popular), être dans les ----, _to be tipsy_, “obfuscated.” See POMPETTE.

BROUTA, _m._ (Saint-Cyr school), _speech_. From the name of a professor who was a good elocutionist.

BROUTE, _f._ (popular), _bread_, “tommy.”

BROUTER (popular), _to eat_, “to grub.” The expression is used by Villon, and is scarcely slang.

Item, à Jean Raguyer, je donne ...
Tous les jours une talemouze (_cake_),
Pour brouter et fourrer sa mouse.

BROUTEUR SOMBRE, _m._ (popular), _desponding, melancholy man_, “croaker.”

BROYEUR DE NOIR EN CHAMBRE (familiar), _literary man who writes on melancholy themes_.

BRUANT (Breton), _cock_; _egg_.

BRUANTEZ (Breton), _hen_.

BRUGE, _m._ (thieves’), _locksmith_.

BRUGERIE, _f._, _locksmith’s shop_.

BRÛLAGE, _m._ (familiar), _the act of being ruined_, “going to smash.”

BRÛLANT, _m._ (thieves’), _fire_; _hearth_.

BRÛLÉ, _m. and adj._ (popular), _failure of an undertaking_; (familiar) Il doit de l’argent partout il est ---- dans le pays, _he owes money to everybody, his credit is gone_. C’est un article ----, _an article which will no longer sell_. L’épicier est ----, _the grocer refuses any more credit_. Un politicien ----, _a politician whose influence is gone_. Un auteur ----, _an author who has spent himself_, _no longer in vogue_. Une fille brûlée, _a girl who in spite of assiduous attendance at balls, &c., has failed to obtain a husband_. Une affaire brûlée, _an unsuccessful undertaking, or spoilt by bad management_. Un acteur ----, _an actor who for some reason or other can no longer find favour with the public_.

BRÛLÉE, _f._ (popular), _severe thrashing_; _defeat_; _hurried and unlawful auction for contracts_.

BRÛLER (theatrical), à la rampe _is said of an actor who performs as if he were alone, and without regard to the common success of the play, or his colleagues_; ---- du sucre, _to obtain applause_. (Popular) Brûler, abbreviation of brûler la cervelle, _to blow one’s brains out_. Fais le mort ou je te brûle, _don’t budge, or I blow your brains out_. En ---- une, _to smoke_, “to blow a cloud.” (Thieves’) Brûler le pégriot, _to obliterate all traces of a theft or crime_. Ne ---- rien, _to suspect nothing_.

BRÛLEUR, _m._ (theatrical), de planches, _spirited actor_.

BRUSQUER (gamesters’), la marque, _to mark more points than have been scored, when playing cards_.

BRUTAL, _m._ (familiar), _cannon_.

BRUTIFIER (popular), _to make one stupid by dint of upbraiding or badgering him_.

BRUTION, _m._ (students’), _cadet of the_ “_Prytanée Militaire de la Flèche_,” a Government school for the sons of officers.

BRUTIUM, _m._, “_Prytanée Militaire de la Flèche_.” From Brutus, probably on account of the strict discipline in that establishment.

BRUTUS, _m._ (thieves’), _Brittany_.

Bruyances, _f. pl._ (familiar), _great puffing up in newspapers or otherwise_.

BU, _adj._ (popular), _in liquor_, “tight.” See POMPETTE.

Eh ben! oui, j’suis bu. Et puis, quoi?
Qué qu’vous m’voulez, messieurs d’la rousse?
Est-c’que vous n’aimez pas comme moi
A vous rincer la gargarousse?

=RICHEPIN=, _La Chanson des Gueux_.

BÛCHE, _f._ Literally _log_; (tailors’) _article of clothing_. Coller sa ---- au grêle, _to remit a piece of work to the master_. Temps de ----, _worktime_. (Popular) Bûche, _lucifer match_; (thieves’) ---- flambante, or plombante, _lucifer match_.

BÛCHER (familiar), _to work hard_, “to sweat;” _to belabour_, “to lick.” (Popular) Se ----, _to fight_, “to slip into one another.”

BÛCHERIE, _f._ (popular), _fight_, “mill.”

BÛCHEUR, _m._ (familiar), _one who works hard_, “a swat.”

BUEN-RETIRO, _m._ (familiar), _private place of retirement_; (ironically) _latrines_, or “West Central.”

BUFFET, _m._ (popular), avoir le ---- garni, _to have had a hearty meal_; ---- vide, _to be fasting_, _to have nothing in the_ “locker.” Bas de ----, see BAS. Remouleur de ----, _organ-grinder_.

BUIF, _m._ (military), _shoemaker_.

BULL-PARK, _m._ (students’), _Bullier’s dancing-rooms_, situated near the Luxembourg, patronized by the students of the Quartier Latin, but invaded, as most places of a similar description now are, by the protectors of gay girls.

BUQUER (thieves’), _to commit a robbery at a shop under pretence of asking for change_; (popular) _to strike_, a corruption of the slang term bûcher.

Vous avez dit dans votre interrogatoire devant Monsieur le
Juge d’instruction: J’ai buqué avec mon marteau.--_Gazette
des Tribunaux._

BUREAU ARABE, _m._ (soldiers’ in Algeria), _absinthe mixed with_ “orgeat,” _a kind of liquor made with almonds_.

BURETTES, _f. pl._ (thieves’ and popular), _pistols_, “barking irons.” Literally _phials_.

BURLIN, BURLINGUE, _m._ (popular), _office_; _desk_. For bureau.

Chez l’pèr’ Jacob pour le jour de sa fête,
A son burlingue il voulait l’envoyer.

_La France._

BUSARD, _m._, BUSE, _f._, BUSON, _m._ (familiar and popular), _dull_, _slow_, _thick-witted man_, “blockhead.”

BUSTINGUE (thieves’), _lodging house_, “dossing ken.”

BUTE, BUTTE, or BUTE À REGRET, _f._ (thieves’), _guillotine_. Monter à la ----, _to be guillotined_.

BUTÉ, _adj._ (thieves’), _guillotined_; _murdered_. See FAUCHÉ.

Ils l’ont buté à coups de vingt-deux.--=E. SUE.= (_They
killed him by stabbing him._)

BUTER (thieves’), _to kill_, _to guillotine_; _to execute_.

On va le buter, il est depuis deux mois gerbé à la
passe.--=BALZAC.= (_He is going to be executed, he was
sentenced to death two months ago._)

BUTEUR (thieves’), _murderer_; _executioner_. See TAULE.

BUTIN, _m._ (soldiers’), _equipment_.

BUTRE (thieves’), _dish_.

BUVAILLER (popular), _to drink little or slowly_.

BUVAILLEUR or BUVAILLON, _m._ (popular), _a man who cannot stand drink_.

BUVERIE, _f._ (common), _a beerhouse_, termed _brasserie_. From the old word _beuverie_.

BUVEUR D’ENCRE, _m._ (soldiers’), _any military man connected with the administration_; _clerk_, or “quill-driver.”

L’expression de buveurs d’encre ne s’applique strictement
qu’aux engagés volontaires qu’on emploie dans les bureaux,
où ils échappent aux rigueurs du service, sous prétexte
qu’ils ont une main superbe.--=F. DE REIFFENBERG=, _La Vie
de Garnison_.