Chapter XX: Part 20

Briefs or Breefs, subs. (card-sharpers’).—Cards tampered with for the purpose of swindling.—See Bridge, Concaves, and Convexes, Longs, and Shorts, Reflectors, etc. [From the German briefe, which Baron Heinecken says was the name given to the cards manufactured at Ulm. Brief is also the synonym for a card in the German Rothwalsch dialect, and briefen is to play at cards.]

1529. [Edited by] Luther, Liber Vagatorum (1860), p. 47.
‘Item—beware of the Joners (gamblers), who practice Beseflery with
the brief (cheating at cards), who deal falsely and cut one for the
other, cheat with Boglein and spies, pick one brief from the
ground, and another from a cupboard,’ etc.

1720. Old Book of Games, quoted by Hotten. ‘Take a pack of cards
and open them, then take out all the honours ... and cut a little
from the edges of the rest all alike, so as to make the honours
broader than the rest, so that when your adversary cuts to you, you
are certain of an honour. When you cut to your adversary cut at the
ends, and then it is a chance if you cut him an honour, because the
cards at the ends are all of a length. Thus you may make breefs
end-ways as well as side-ways.’

Brief-Snatcher, subs. (thieves’).—Pocket-book thieves. [From brief (q.v., sense 1), slang term for a pocket-book, + snatcher.]

Brigh, subs. (thieves’).—A pocket.

1879. J. W. Horsley, in Macm. Mag., XL., 502. Having a new suit of
clobber on me, and about fifty blow in my brigh (pocket).

Some English Synonyms are:—Cly, skyrocket.

French Synonyms are une grande; une profonde, parfonde or prophête (thieves’: literally deep; also used for ‘cave’ or ‘cellar’); une fouillouse (thieves’: this term is an old one. Fouille = a ‘digging’ or excavation. There are various forms—foulle, felouse, filoche); une gueularde (thieves’: gueulard = wallet in slang, but properly signifies a stove); une baguenaude (thieves’ and cads’: properly ‘a bladder-nut’); une balade or ballade; une valade (thieves’: from avaler, to swallow up); une fondrière (thieves’); un four banal (thieves’: either used to signify a ‘pocket,’ a ‘false pocket,’ or an ‘omnibus’); une sonde (literally sonde = probe).

Bright in the Eye, subs. (common).—Slightly tipsy. [An allusion to the sparkling appearance of the eyes at an early stage of intoxication; subsequently they become dull and sleepy.] For synonyms, see Screwed.

Brighton Tipper, subs.—A peculiar kind of ale.—See quotation.

1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, I., p. 347. Requiring ... a pint
of the celebrated staggering ale, or Real Old Brighton Tipper, at
supper. Ibid, p. 447. If they draws the Brighton Tipper here, I
takes that ale at night, my love.

Brim, subs. (old).—1. A prostitute. [A contraction of brimstone (q.v.)] For synonyms, see Barrack-hack.

1730–6. Bailey. Brim [q. a contraction of Brimstone], a common
strumpet. [M.]

1764. T. Brydges, Homer Travest. (1797), i., 173. Can mortal
scoundrels thee [Hera] perplex, And the great brim of brimstones
vex?

1808. Jamieson. Brim, a cant term for a trull.—Loth.

2. (common).—Nowadays the term signifies an angry, violent woman, or a termagant, without reference to moral character. An equivalent French term is une chipie. Cf., Brimstone.

1799. Whim of the Day. She raved, she abused me, and splenetic was;
She’s a vixen, she’s a brim, zounds! She’s all that is bad.

Brimstone, subs. (old).—1. A violent tempered woman; a virago; a spitfire. [A reference to the inflammable character of the mineral.]

1712. Bp. Burnet, in Walpole’s Reminiscences (1819), p. 75. ‘Oh,
madam,’ said the bishop, ‘do not you know what a brimstone of a
wife he had?’

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. vi. ‘She is ... not a
brimstone, like Kate Koddle, of Chatham.’

1760. C. Johnston, Chrysal, II., 190. I hate the law damnably ever
since I lost a year’s pay for hindering our boatswain’s mate’s
brother from beating his wife. The brimstone swore I beat her
husband, and so I paid for meddling.

1859. H. Kingsley, Geoffrey Hamlyn, ch. xxiii. Who seemed, too, to
have a temper of her own, and promised, under circumstances, to
turn out a bit of a b—mst—ne.

2. (old.)—A prostitute. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack.

1785. Grose. Brim (abbreviation of brimstone), an abandoned woman;
perhaps originally only a passionate or irascible woman, compared
to brimstone for its inflammability.

Briney or Briny, subs. (popular).—The sea. A ‘dip in the briney’ once a year is a great attraction to Cockney excursionists. Hotten tells a story of one excursionist saying to another, as they stripped in a double machine, ‘Why, ’Arry what dirty feet you’ve got!’ ‘’Ave I; well yer see I wasn’t down last year.’ [From the adj. signifying, ‘of or pertaining to brine or the sea.’]

1856. Whyte Melville, Kate Coventry, ch. xiv. The luckless plight
in which a stout gentleman had found himself, by the temporary loss
of all his apparel, while he was disporting in the briny.

1881. Punch, Jan. 15, p. 14. Grigsby. Hullo, my Jellaby, you here!
Come and take a dip in the briny, old man. I’m sure you look as if
you wanted it. Postlethwaite. Thanks, no. I never bathe. I always
see myself so dreadfully foreshortened in the Water, you know!

1889. Sporting Times, June 29. Next day bathing, returning from
which we beheld a curious sight, three nymphs carrying down to the
strand a bath in which one of them was, apparently with a curious
mistrust of the sea, going to try the briny.

English Synonyms. Herring pond; big pond; big drink; the puddle; Davy’s locker.

French Synonyms. La grande tasse (familiar: properly ‘the big cup.’ Boire dans la grande tasse, ‘to be drowned’); la grande bleue (popular: the great blue—an allusion to the colour of deep sea water); le grand salé (popular: literally ‘the great salt’); le pré salé (popular: properly the salted or briny meadow.)

Bring Down the House, verbal phr. (general).—To elicit loud applause; and, still more figuratively, to be successful. [The figure of speech is that demonstrative applause will cause the walls to give way. Cf., To raise the roof off.]

1754. World, II., No. 76, 125. His apprehension that your statues
will bring the house down.

1853. Rev. E. Bradley (‘Cuthbert Bede’), Adventures of Verdant
Green, II., p. 23. Why, it would surpass the British sailor’s
broadsword combat for six, and bring down the house.

1872. Forster, Life of Charles Dickens, ch. xliv. (IV., p. 252).
‘And give us your applause, for that is always just’! which brought
down the house with rapture.

1877. Mrs. Riddell, Her Mother’s Darling, II., p. 61 (ch. xii). I
do not fancy she would ever forgive any of us if Honie were to
bring down the house at Elm Vale.

1889. Bird o’ Freedom, Aug. 7, p. 3. But Samson’s crowning feat of
all was to break with his fist two steel chains, suspended from a
couple of posts. This fairly brought down the house.

Brisket-Beater, subs. (old).—A Roman Catholic. Cf., Breast fleet and Craw-thumper, synonymous terms. Quoted by Grose [1785].

Bristles or Bristle Dice, subs. (old).—A method of ‘cogging’ dice by inserting bristles into them, and thus influencing the position of the cubes when ‘thrown.’

1532. Dice Play (1050), 28. Bristle dice, be now too gross a
practice to be put in use. [M.]

1680. Cotton, in Singer Hist. Cards, 335. This they do by false
dice, as ... By bristle-dice. [M.]

1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xxiii. ‘Men talk of high and
low dice, Fulhams and bristles ... and a hundred ways of rooking
besides.’

Bristol Milk, subs. (old).—Sherry. [An allusion to sherry being formerly a large import of the city of Bristol.] For synonyms, see Drinks.

1644. Prynne and Walker, Fiennes’ Trial, 78. Good store of Bristol
milk, strong wines and waters. [M.]

1662. Fuller, Worthies, Bristol. ‘Bristol milk’; this metaphorical
milk, whereby Xeres or Sherry Sack is intended.

1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bristol milk, a
Spanish wine called sherry, much drank at that place, particularly
in the morning.

1849–61. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I., iii. A rich beverage made of the
best Spanish wine, and celebrated ... as Bristol milk.

Broach Claret, verbal phr. (pugilistic).—To draw blood.—See, however, Claret.

Broad and Shallow, phr. (popular).—An epithet applied to the so-called ‘Broad Church,’ in contradistinction to the ‘High’ and ‘Low’ Churches.—See High and dry.

1886. Graphic, 10 April, p. 399. In the Church have we not the
three schools of High and Dry, Low and Slow, and Broad and Shallow?

Broadbottoms, subs. (political).—A nickname given to two Coalition Governments, one in the last century [1741], and the other in 1807.—See quots.

A pamphlet dated April 18, 1807, has reference to the latter. Its full title is:—‘The pigs possessed, or the broadbottom’d litter running headlong into the Sea of Perdition.’ The characters are George III., as the British farmer; Lords Sidmouth, Ellenborough, Howick (‘Test Act’); Mr. Windham; Lords Holland, Walpole, Carlisle St. Vincent; Earls Temple (‘Last Stake’), Grenville (‘Catholic Bill’), and of Derby; Lords Erskine, Lauderdale (a Scotch pig), H. Petty, and Moira; the Duke of Bedford, who was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, marked ‘Erin go Bragh’; Earl Spencer, Marquis of Buckingham (‘Family’), R. B. Sheridan (Harlequin), Courtney, Tierney, and Whitbread (‘Entire’). Courtney is placed in profile between Ellenborough and Sidmouth. He was an intimate friend of Fox. This is said to be the only portrait of him. The print is a supplement to another styled ‘More Pigs than Teats.’ The pigs represent the Ministers described commonly by the phrase ‘All the Talents,’ or the ‘Broad-Bottoms’ who were succeeded, April, 1807, by the Duke of Portland and his supporters. The former are not to be confounded with an earlier ‘Broad-Bottom’ Administration. The latter was commemorated in the satirical inscription for Fox’s tomb, Hic jacet Pater Broad-Bottomos.

1742. Walpole, Lett. to Mann (1833), No. 22, Feb. 18, vol. I., p.
106. The Tories declare against any farther prosecution—if Tories
there are, for now one heard of nothing but the broad-bottom; it is
the reigning cant word, and means, the taking all parties and
people, indifferently, into the ministry.

1843. Macaulay, Historical Essays, II., p. 244. The Pelhams had
forced the King, much against his will, to part with Lord
Carteret.... They proceeded, after this victory, to form the
Government on that basis, called by the cant name of the
‘broad-bottom.’

1863. Jeaffreson, Live It Down, I., p. 249. The star of Granville
is falling, that of Pelham is in the ascendant; and the great
coalition on ‘The Br. B.’ is managing the affairs of the State.

1871. Miss Braddon, Robert Ainsleigh, I., p. 37. A scathing reply
from the polished chief of the famous Br. B. Administration.

1887. Pol. Slang, in Cornhill Mag., June, p. 628. A Coalition
Government in the last century was known by the apt nickname of the
‘Broad Bottom.’

Broadbrim, subs. (common).—A Quaker. [The origin of this expression is to be found in the hat once peculiar to the ‘Society of Friends.’ Hotten says the epithet is now used of any quiet, sedate, old man.]

1712. Spectator, No. 276. [Broad-brim is used as the name of a
Quaker correspondent.]

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. VII., ch. x. This the Quaker had
observed, and this, added to the rest of his behaviour, inspired
honest broad-brim with a conceit that his companion was, in
reality, out of his senses.

1864. Reader (quoted in Notes and Queries, 5 S., ix., p. 263).
Broadbrim, a Quaker. This word clearly owes its origin to the
peculiar hat worn by the Society of Friends.

1876. Jas. Grant, One of the Six Hundred, ch. i. The sly
broad-brim, and popularity-hunters of the Peace Society sent a
deputation to the Emperor Nicholas.

Broad-Cooper, subs. (brewers’).—A person employed by brewers to negotiate with publicans.

Broad Coves, subs. (old).—Card-sharpers. [From broads (q.v.), cards, + cove (q.v.), a man.] The modern term for swindling at cards is broad faking (q.v.). A French equivalent is un brêmeur. For synonyms, see Rook.

1821. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act ii., Sc. 5.

Your swell broad coves, with all their airs
Can’t match the kids near Wapping stairs,
They are so down and knowing;
Of lowest life you’ll see the best,
At Maces’s, All-max, in the East;
So let’s at once be going:
Come, toddle along, toddle along, etc.

Broad-Faking, subs. (card-sharpers’).—Playing at cards. Generally used, however, to denote ‘work’ of the three card and kindred descriptions.

Broad-Fencer, subs. (thieves’).—A ‘k’rect card’ seller at races. [From broad (q.v.), a card, + fence or fencer, a ‘tradesman.’]

Broads, subs. (general).—Playing cards.—See Stock broads.

1789. Geo. Parker, Life’s Painter, p. 142. Who are continually
looking out for flats, in order to do them upon the broads, that is
cards.

1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dict. Broads, cards; a person expert at
which is said to be a good broad-player.

1834. Harrison Ainsworth, Rookwood, IV., ii. I nick the broads.

1877. Five Years’ Penal Servitude, ch. iv., p. 262. He ... became
one of a gang who practised with the broads card-sharping and the
‘confidence trick.’

Broadsman, subs. (common).—A card-sharper. [From broads = cards + man.] Formerly called broad cove (q.v.). For synonyms, see Rook.

1879. J. W. Horsley, ‘Autobiography of a Thief,’ in Macm. Mag.,
XL., 502. Broadsmen (card-sharpers).

1888. G. R. Sims, in Cass. Sat. Journal, 31 March, p. 7. The
broadsman is a card-sharper.

Broady, subs. (common).—1. Cloth. [A corruption of broad-cloth.]

1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, I., p. 54. Gentlemen
finding their own broady can be accommodated.

1883. Daily Telegraph, August 7, p. 6, col. 2. The prospectus
further intimated that ... gentlemen ‘finding their own broady ...
could be accommodated.’

2. (thieves’.)—Anything worth stealing.—See Broady worker.

Broady Worker, subs. (thieves’).—A man who goes round selling vile shoddy stuff under the pretence that it is excellent material, which has been ‘got on the cross,’ i.e., stolen.

Brock, verb (Winchester College).—To bully; to tease; to badger. [Brock is a north country and Hampshire name for a badger.] In French military schools this is called faire une brimade or faire brimer.

Brockster, subs. (Winchester College).—A bully.—See Brock.

Brogues, subs. (Christ’s Hospital).—Breeches. This is, in reality, an obsolete old English term which has survived among the ‘Blues.’

Broiled or Boiled Crow. To eat boiled crow.—A newspaper editor, who is obliged by his ‘party’ or other outside influences, to advocate ‘principles’ different from those which he supported a short time before, is said to ‘eat boiled crow.’ Originally the phrase was simply to eat crow, and the following account is that currently accepted as to its derivation.

1888. Atlanta Constitution. During the unpleasantness between the
States and England, there were located on opposite sides of the
Niagara river a British and an American fort, and during an
armistice the soldiers of both garrisons were accustomed to go
hunting. Among the American troops was one long, lank, stuttering
specimen of the genus Yankee, who would persist, in spite of orders
to the contrary, in going across the river on his hunting
expeditions. One day when on the Canada side he had had poor luck
and got nothing, but resolved not to go back entirely empty handed.
While passing through the grounds of an English gentleman, he spied
a crow, and, blazing away, brought it down. The Englishman had
witnessed the shot and resolved to punish the offender for poaching
on his private grounds. As the Yankee was loading his gun he
approached, and, complimenting him on his good shot, asked to look
at his gun. The unsuspecting Yankee handed it to him, and the
Briton, bringing the gun to his shoulder and covering the Yankee,
abused him for trespassing on his grounds, and ordered him, on pain
of death, to take a bite out of the crow. The soldier begged and
pleaded, but to no avail. The Englishman had the drop on him, so he
finally bit a piece from the breast of the crow. The Englishman,
after warning him to keep off his premises in the future, handed
him back his gun and bade him clear out. No sooner was his rifle
returned than he covered the Briton and ordered him to finish the
crow. Then it was the Englishman’s turn to beg off, but the Yankee
was firm, and the Englishman, with many a wry face, did succeed in
downing several bites of the unsavoury bird. His wounded honour
being appeased, the Yankee betook himself back to the fort. The
Englishman the next day went to the American commander and told his
version of the affair, and demanded that the culprit be punished.
From the description given, the American officer knew that the
offender must have been the stuttering soldier, and ordered him to
be brought before them. When he came in the captain asked him if he
had ever seen the gentleman before. The Yankee shifted uneasily
from one foot to the other, and, after several attempts, finally
answered that he had. ‘When and under what circumstances?’ asked
the officer. ‘I d-dined with him y-y-yesterday, captin,’ stuttered
the soldier. The story goes that his wit saved the soldier from
punishment.

Broke. Dead broke (q.v.)—Stone broke (q.v.), adj. (common).—Ruined; decayed; hard up—said of health or pecuniary circumstances. The French slang has n’avoir pas un radis, literally ‘not to have a radish’; but for all synonyms, see Dead-broke.

1887. G. R. Sims, How the Poor Live, p. 16. ‘How do you do when
you’re stone broke?’ I ask him. ‘Well, sir, sometimes I comes
across a gentleman as gives me a bob and starts me again.’

1889. Pall Mall Gaz., Aug. 14. I see that Sullivan made 21,000
dols. out of his fight, but as he was ‘dead broke’ before the
battle, there won’t be much of it left. Nevertheless, Sullivan has
received hundreds of begging letters from folks who want him to pay
off mortgages on their homes or buy them houses and lots and things
of that sort.

Broken Feather in One’s Wing, subs. phr. (popular).—A blot on one’s character.

1880. Mrs. Oliphant, Phœbe, jun., ii., 6. If an angel were to walk
about, Mrs. Sam Hurst would never rest till she had found out where
he came from. And perhaps whether he had a broken feather in his
wing.

Broken-Kneed, ppl. adj. (common).—Said of a girl or woman who has been seduced. Cf., Ankle and Broken legged; for synonyms, see Dock and Leg. In French theatrical slang, avoir mal aux genoux.

Broken Legged, ppl. adj. (common).—Seduced.—See Dock and Leg for synonyms.

Brolly, subs. (general).—An umbrella. Term first used at Winchester, being subsequently adopted at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

1885. Punch, June 6, p. 273. Pair o’ pattens and brolly are more in
your line.

Broncho, adj. (American).—Unruly; wild; savage. The epithet is derived from broncho, the name of the native horse of California, a somewhat tricky and uncertain quadruped. The term is familiarly applied to horses that buck and show other signs of vice. The Spanish signification of the word is rough and crabbed little beast, and in truth he deserves this name.

1888. Francis, Saddle and Mocassin. Oh! I don’t know. He’d been
singing the music to ‘em’ (imitating them). Sam’s too broncho.

Broncho-Buster, subs. (American).—A breaker-in of bronchos; also called a flash-rider. [From broncho (q.v.) + bust, in its slang sense of annihilate, or overcome, + er.] These men make a profession of their business and perform really marvellous feats, riding with ease the most vicious and unbroken beasts that no ordinary rider would dare tackle. A favourite feat is to sit out the antics of a bucking-horse with silver half-dollars under each knee or in the stirrups under each foot. Their method of breaking-in may be described as the exercise of main force, it being a tussle as to which can hold out the longest, man or broncho. The calling is a dangerous one, and a first-class broncho-buster can always command high wages and constant employment on large ranches.

Bronze John, subs. (American).—Texas name for yellow fever; Englishmen commonly call it yellow Jack (q.v.)

Broom, subs. (old).—1. See quot.

1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xxviii. ‘The people got rusty about
it, and would not deal, and they had bought so many brooms that——’
Ibid, ch. xxxiii. (II., p. 96). What are you wanting here? Ye’ll be
come wi’ a broom in your pocket frae Ellengowan? Got so many
warrants out.

2. (harlotry.)—The female pudenda. The male penis is the broomstick. For synonyms, see Monosyllable.

Verb (old).—To run away. For synonyms, see Amputate.

1821. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, p. 6. Tom. That will do—now then
Dicky, mizzle!—be scarce!—broom! Prime. Wouldn’t intrude a moment,
gentlemen, good morning—order my carriage.

Broomstick, subs. (athletic).—A sort of rough cricket bat, very narrow in the blade and all of one piece of wood.

To jump the broomstick—hop the broom—jump the besom, phr. (common).—To live as man and wife without the legal tie. The allusion is to a quasi marriage ceremony performed by both parties jumping over a broomstick.

1811. Poole, Hamlet Travestied, ii., 3. Jump o’er a broomstick, but
don’t make a farce on The marriage ceremonies of the parson.

1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor I., p. 336. The old
woman (who kept the ken), when any female, old or young, who had no
tin, came into the kitchen, made up a match for her with some men.
Fellows half-drunk had the old women. There was always a broomstick
wedding. Without that ceremony a couple weren’t looked on as man
and wife.

1860. Dickens, Great Expectations, ch. xlviii., p. 227. ‘They both
led tramping lives, and this woman in Gerrard St. here, had been
married very young, over the broomstick (as we say), to a tramping
man, and was a perfect fury in point of jealousy.’

c. 18(79). Broadside Ballad, ‘David Dove that fell in love.’ By L.
M. Thornton.

The girl that I had hoped to hear
Pronounce my happy doom, sir,
Had bolted with a carpenter,
In fact hopped o’er the broom, sir.

Broomsticks, subs. (old).—Worthless bail. For synonyms, see Straw bail and Cf., Bail.

1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dictionary. Queer bail are persons of no
repute, hired to bail a prisoner in any bailable case. These men
are to be had in London for a trifling sum, and are called
broomsticks.

Brosier or Brozier, subs. (Eton College).—A boy when he had spent all his pocket-money. [Brozier is a Cheshire term for a bankrupt.] A French term for a bankrupt is un déculotté, i.e., one unbreeched; also un bauce or bausse fondu.

Broziered, ppl. adj.—Cleaned out; done up; ruined; bankrupt.

1796. Merton, Way to get Married (in Inchbald’s ‘British Theatre,’
vol. XXVI). [The term is so used here].

Brozier-my-dame, verbal phr. (Eton College).—Eating one out of house and home. At Eton, when a dame (q.v.) keeps an unusually bad table, the boys agree together on a day to eat, pocket, or waste everything eatable in the house. The censure is well understood, and the hint is generally effective.

1850. Notes and Queries, June 15, p. 44. I well remember the phrase
brozier-my-dame, signifying to eat her out of house and home.

1888. Rev. W. Rogers, Reminiscences, p. 15. Etonians of my standing
will remember John Francis Plumptre, one of the Fellows ... I once
behaved very shabbily to him, for I joined a conspiracy to
‘brozier’ him. There were ten or twelve of us [at breakfast], and
we devoured everything within reach.

Brother-Blade, subs. (old).—A soldier. Formerly brother of the blade, i.e., of the sword; a fellow-soldier. For synonyms, see Mudcrusher.

1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Brother of the blade,
a soldier.

1834. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, bk. IV., ch. ii. ‘I heard some
devilish good stories of you at D’Osyndar’s t’other day; the fellow
who told them to me little thought I was a brother blade.’

Brother Chip (provincial workmen’s).—One of the same calling or trade; formerly a fellow carpenter.

1820. Clare, Poems of Rural Life, Familiar Epistle, st. 3. And,
brother chip, I love ye dearly, poor as ye be!

Brother of the Brush, subs. phr. (old).—An artist; a house-painter.

1687. Bp. Cartwright, in Hist. Magd. Coll. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.), 143.
Pray make use of my brother of the brush. [M.]

1759. Sterne, Tr. Shandy (1793), I., 133. The honourable devices
which the Pentagraphic bretheren of the brush have shewn in taking
copies. [M.]

1833. Byron, wks. (1846), p. 585, col. 1. A young American brother
of the brush. [M.]

Brother of the Bung, subs. phr. (old).—A brewer; one of the same trade. [Bung here is used as an emblem of the trade of a brewer.]

Brother of the Buskin, subs. phr. (old).—A player; actor—one of the same profession. [Buskin is in allusion to the covering for the foot and leg (cothurnus) worn by actors in tragedy among the ancients; in contrast to the sock (soccus) worn by comedians. Stage buskins had very thick soles to give an appearance of height. Hence buskin as symbolical of tragedy, but used in the phrase brother of the buskin in a transferred and general sense.] Quoted by Grose [1785]. Cf., Barn-stormer and Booth-burster.

Brother of the Coif, subs. (old).—A serjeant-at-law. [The coif was a close-fitting cap worn by the serjeants-at-law—hence the term.] Quoted by Grose [1785].

Brother of the Gusset, subs. (old).—A pimp or ponce (q.v.). For synonyms, see Bully.

Brother of the Quill, subs. phr. (old).—An author. [Quill = pen.] For synonyms, see Ink-slinger.

1754. B. Martin, Eng. Dict. (2 ed.). Brother of the quill, an
author, one of the same profession.

Brother of the String, subs. phr. (old).—A fiddler. [A reference to the violin or fiddle as a stringed instrument.]

Brother of the Whip, subs. phr. (old).—A coachman, the whip being taken, as it were, as an insignia of office.

1756. The World, No. 207. He ... had always greased my heels
himself, and upon every one of my birthdays, had treated all his
brother whips at his own expence.

1849. T. Miller, in Gabarni in London, p. 39. He is very kind to
any poor brother of the whip whom he sees tugging up-hill in vain,
with a weighty load and an ill-fed team.

Brother-Smut, subs. phr. (popular).—A term of familiarity. ‘Ditto, brother or sister smut,’ tu quoque.

Brother Starlings, subs. (old).—Men who cohabit with the same mistress.

1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Brother Starling ...
one who ... builds in the same nest.

Broth of a Boy, subs. phr. (Irish originally, but now common).—A jolly good fellow. Cf., Brick. [The term is thought to originate from the Irish Broth, passion—Brotha, passionate, spirited—its meaning being, ‘He’s a lad of spirit,’ though it may come from the ancient Cornish name for the mastiff—brath. Hence a broth of a boy would then mean ‘a stout dog of a boy—robust.’]

1819–24. Byron, Don Juan, c. viii., st. 24. But Juan was quite a
broth of a boy, a thing of impulse and a child of song.

1877. Besant and Rice, Son of Vulcan, ch. xx. You ought to have
been a preacher and a boy. Faith, and a broth of a boy, and a broth
of a preacher you’d have made.

Broughtonian, subs. (old).—A bruiser; boxer; pugilist. [From Broughton, once the best boxer of his day.]

Brown, subs. (common).—1. A halfpenny. [Probably an allusion to the colour of the coin in question.] For synonyms of money generally, see Actual.

1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dict. Browns and whistlers, bad halfpence
and farthings.

1821. W. T. Moncrieff, Tom and Jerry, Act ii., Sc. 3. Bob. Now then
for the stumpy. (Searching about in his pockets for the money.) My
tanners are like young colts; I’m obliged to hunt ’em into a
corner, afore I can get hold on ’em—there!—hand us over three
browns out of that ’ere tizzy; and tip us the heavy. (Landlord
receives money, and delivers porter.)

1837. Barham, I. L. (Black Mousquetaire).

The magic effect of a hand of crowns
Upon people whose pockets boast nothing but browns.

1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, III., p. 57. If I
takes a hat round, they has a plate, and they gets sovereigns where
we has only browns. Ibid. We keeps it up for half an hour or an
hour ... if the browns tumble in well.

1853. Whyte Melville, Digby Grand, ch. iv. A shower of browns, the
coppers mingled with silver, from our private box, rewards their
exertions.

c. 1884. Broadside Ballad, ‘Jimmy Johnson’s Holiday.’

But Violet, the Margate pet,
Who always call’d him Teaser,
Said ‘She would stick like mortar’d brick,
While Johnson had a brown.’

2. (old.)—Porter. [Qy. an abbreviation of ‘Brown Stout.’]

1820. Glossary at end of Corcoran’s The Fancy. Brown, porter; heavy
brown, stout.

Verb.—1. A variant of ‘to do brown,’ i.e., to do to perfection; to get the better of. [The simile is obviously taken from the browning process which meat undergoes during roasting.]—See Do brown.

2. To understand; comprehend.

To do brown, verbal phr. (common).—To do well; also ‘to take in’; deceive; to exceed bounds. Cf., Brown, verb, sense 1. French equivalents for ‘to allow oneself to be done brown’ are godancer and être flouè.—See second quotation for variation in usage.

a. 1600. John Bon, 162 in Hazl. E. P. P., iv., 16. Ha! browne done.
[M.]

1828. Jon. Bee, Picture of London, p. 5. ‘Those who consider
themselves brown to every move upon the board’ of actual life.

1837. Barham, I. L. (The Execution). ‘Why, they’d laugh at and quiz
us all over the town, We are all of us done so uncommonly brown!’

1854. Harper’s Monthly, January.

‘And some of the greenhorns
Resolved upon flight,
And vamosed the ranch
In a desperate plight;
While those who succeeded
In reaching the town,
Confessed they were done,
Most exceedingly brown.’

1861. Times (on American affairs).

John Bull, slyly winkin’, then said unto he:
‘My dear Times, my old covey, go pitch into he;
Let us wallop great Doodle now when he is down;
If we wallops him well, we will do him up brown.’

1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 267. I was
once done myself with some pigs—I! and done brown too, and at a
time when I ought to have known better.

Brown Bess, subs. (rhyming slang).—1. Yes.

2. (military.)—The old regulation musket. Considerable discussion has taken place over the origin of this term. It first appears in Grose [1785], but the term ‘brown musquet’ occurs at the beginning of the eighteenth century [1708]. The following suggested derivation appeared in N. and Q. [2 S., v., p. 259]. Brown Bess, in its primary meaning, is equivalent to brown barrel. Bus, in Dutch is the barrel of a gun; in Low Germ. büsse, in Swed. byssa. Hence our English Bess as applied to a gun-barrel. (Conf. in Med. Latin—bus-bas fragor scloporum et certaminis.) The Dutch bus appears often in composition. Hand-bus, a pistol; literally a hand-barrel. Bus-schieter, a gunner; literally a barrel-shooter. We have the Dutch bus (a barrel) in three English names of fire-arms: namely arquebuse, obus, blunderbuss. At the first of these three, arquebuse, we must look a little more closely would we trace the term brown Bess to its primæval source. The most formidable of cross-bows before fire-arms came into general use, was one which shot a ball or pellet from a barrel. Specimens may yet be seen. Now this was the original arquebuse (i.e., arc-bus, or arc-et-bus, bow and barrel). In process of time as gunpowder came into use, the arc disappeared, and the buss or barrel remained. Hence arquebuse, though it properly implies a bow fitted with a tube or barrel, came into use as the old appellation of a soldier’s firelock. And hence the name of Bess (bus, büsse or byssa), which the musket has borne more recently. Bess or bus is the last syllable of the old arquebuse or harquebus cut off for separate use, just as in the more recent instance of bus from omnibus. The barrels of firelocks were sometimes browned. Sometimes, however, they were required to be kept bright. Could we ascertain who first in mercy ordained the browning of the barrel, we might have some prospect of ascertaining the first introduction of the term brown Bess. Doubtless it was some hero of the fight, not of the field-day. For a further illustration of the term brown Bess, it may be proper to remark that in Northumberland, according to Halliwell, a gun is known by the not very elegant title of black-bitch. Now like bus in Dutch, büchse is in German a gun-barrel. (‘Büchse, 2, ein eisernes Rohr zum schiessen,’ an iron tube for shooting.) May we not infer, therefore, that black-bitch was originally ‘black büchse,’ i.e., black barrel, in conformity with brown barrel or brown Bess? ‘Formerly,’ says Zedler, ‘and before the invention of gunpowder, arquebuse signified a bow with a barrel’ (Bogen Büchse), which is the literal meaning of the word. Hotten, however, says it is much more likely that the phrase is derived from the fact that ‘the soldier is wedded to his weapon,’ and some colour is given to this alternative derivation by the fact that the Dutch soldier, mindful of all the care he has to bestow upon his gun, calls it his wife—mijn geweer is mijn vrouw. French soldiers call their weapon la clarinette de cinq pieds.

1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Brown Bess, a
soldier’s firelock.

1820. Coombe, Dr. Syntax, Tour II., ch. ii.

Religion Jack did never profess,
Till he had shoulder’d old Brown Bess.

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. xi. The British soldier,
with his clothing and accoutrements, ...—not to mention brown Bess,
his mainstay and dependence—nothing punishes him so much as wet.

1877. Chambers’ Journal, No. 720. Such may have been the case in
the days of brown Bess, but a spinning conical ball from the
Martini-Henry will pierce the largest crocodile.

3. (old.)—A prostitute. For synonyms, see Barrack-hack.

1631. Dore, Polydorun. Things proffered and easie to come by
diminish themselves in reputation and price, for how full of pangs
and dotage is a wayling lover, for it may be some brown Bessie.

To hug brown Bess, verbal phr. (old).—To serve as a private soldier.

Brown George, subs. (old).—1. Explained by quotations.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby L., 3 S. ‘Jerry Jarvis’s Wig.’ He looked
disdainfully at the wig; it had once been a comely jasey enough, of
the colour of over-baked ginger-bread, one of the description
commonly known during the latter half of the last century by the
name of a brown George.

1882. Globe, 24 July, p. 2, col. 1. The King [George III.] wore a
brown wig ... known popularly a century ago as brown George.

2. (common.)—A jug; generally of brown earthenware. Cf., Black-jack.

1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, ch. xxiv. He ... stood behind
his oak, holding his brown George, or huge earthenware receptacle,
half full of dirty water, in which his bedmaker had been washing up
his tea-things.

1881. Besant and Rice, Chap. of the Fleet, pt. II., ch. iii. His
country brother might have been seen at the Crown, over a pipe and
a brown George full of strong October.

3. (old.)—A coarse brown loaf; or hard biscuit.

1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, bk. IV. Author’s Prologue. The devil of
one musty crust of a brown George the poor boys had to scour their
grinders with.

1693. Dryden, Persius, V., 215.

Cubb’d in a cabin, on a mattrass laid,
On a brown George, with lousy swabbers fed.

Brownie, subs. (nautical).—The polar bear.

Brown Janet, subs. (nautical).—A knapsack.

Brown Joe, intj. (rhyming slang).—No. Cf., Brown Bess for ‘yes.’

Brown-Papermen, subs. (thieves’).—Low gamblers.—See quot.

1851. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 502. ‘But
the Little Nick is what we call only ‘brown papermen,’ low
gamblers—playing for pence, and 1s. being a great go.’

Brown Stone, subs. (American thieves’).—Beer. For synonyms, see Swipes.

Brown Talk, subs. (common).—Conversation of an exceedingly ‘proper’ character, Quakerish. Compare blue.

Browse, verb (Marlborough and Royal Military Academy).—To idle; loll; take things easy. [A transferred sense of the legitimate word—to eat lazily.]

Adj.—See foregoing. ‘A browse morning,’ i.e., one in which there is little work.

Bruise, verb (prize-fighters’).—1. To fight; box—generally with the idea of mauling.

Bruise along, verbal phr. (hunting).—To pound along.

1865. Dublin University Magazine, II., 19. A majority of those who
follow them have ... no notion of hunting, but go bruising along.

1872. Anteros, xii., p. 110. The baron hunted his five days ...
bruising along determinedly.

Bruiser, subs. (pugilistic).—1. A prize-fighter; a boxer. [From bruise, to maul, + er.]

1744. Nov. 26, Walpole, Lett. to Mann (1833), II., 57. He let into
the pit great numbers of bear-garden bruisers (that is the term),
to knock down everybody that hissed.

1753. Foote, Englishman in Paris, Act i. Dick Daylight and Bob
Bread-basket the bruisers.

1830. S. Warren, Diary of a Late Physician, ch. xii. The man last
named was short in stature, but of a square iron build; and it
needed only a glance at his posture to see he was a scientific,
perhaps a thorough-bred bruiser.

1846–48. Thackeray, V. Fair, ch. xi. At college he pulled
stroke-oar in the Christchurch boat, and had thrashed all the best
bruisers of the ‘town.’

1860. Thackeray, Philip, ch. xlii. A jolly wag, a fellow of
indifferent character, a frequenter of all the ale-houses in the
neighbourhood, and rather celebrated for his skill as a bruiser.

1880. Jas. Greenwood, Flyfaker’s Hotel, in Odd People in Odd
Places, p. 58. Nearly every one seemed to have some little job or
other that was necessary to be done at this almost last moment for
the business of to-morrow; even one of the two villanous-looking
bruisers had. They were of the very lowest of the ‘rough’
type—broken-nosed, besotted, pimple-visaged, and
unwholesome-looking fellows, whose foul and blasphemous language
seemed to pollute the pestilent air of the place more than anything
else that contributed thereto.

2. (thieves’.)—A prostitute’s bully or fancy man. For synonyms, see Bully.

3. (common.)—One fond of fighting. Cf., Chucker-out, and next sense.

4. (American.)—A generic name in large cities for a rowdy or bully. Sometimes, however, the term has been limited in its application to a particular band of ruffians. This was the case once in Baltimore.

Bruising, verbal subs. (prize-fighters’).—Fighting with the fists; boxing.

1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. c. The combatants were, in
point of strength and agility, pretty equally matched; but the
jailer had been regularly trained to the art of bruising.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. x. At that time the Sunday
newspapers contained many and many exciting reports of boxing
matches. Bruising was considered a fine manly old English custom.

1860. Thackeray, Philip, ch. xxxv. Mugford always persisted that he
could have got the better of his great hulking sub-editor, who did
not know the use of his fists. In Mugford’s youthful time, bruising
was a fashionable art.

Ppl. adj. (hunting).—That pounds along.

1872. Anteros, by the author of Guy Livingstone, I., p. 207. He was
a good second-rate shot, and a fair, though by no means bruising
rider to hounds. Ibid., p. 234. There were not a few admirers of
his bruising style, etc.

Brum, subs. (old).—1. A counterfeit coin. [Contracted form of Brummagem (q.v.).] The term appears to have been given specially to some counterfeit groats [about 1691].

2. (common).—Something counterfeit; not genuine. [A contraction of Brummagem (q.v.).]

1883. Daily Telegraph, July 9, p. 3, col. 2. One [earring] might be
gold, and the other a Brum, though exactly alike.

3. (common).—Copper money struck by Boulton and Watt at their works at Soho, Birmingham.

1787. J. West, Trip to Richmond, in Ashton’s Eighteenth Century
Waifs, p. 133. My silver I chang’d for a handful of Brums.

4. (common).—An inhabitant of Birmingham.

1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 321. For
Nottingham is a rare place for good eating; here you may buy
anything to eat of the commonest person, or in the commonest place
with confidence that it is good, clean, and wholesome, very
different to dirty Birmingham and the Brums.

Adj. (Winchester College).—Mean; poor; stingy. A superlative form is dead brum. [There are two derivations suggested; viz. (1) from bruma = winter; and (2) traditional in ‘College’ that it is an abbreviated form of brevissimum.] A popular French equivalent, used both as a substantive and adjective, is rapiat.

Brumby, subs. (Australian).—A wild horse. An Antipodean counterpart of the American ‘broncho.’

Brummagem, subs. (popular).—1. A nickname for Birmingham.

1862. Cornhill, Nov., p. 648. We have just touched for a rattling
stake of sugar (i.e., a large stake of money) at Brum.

2. (old).—Base money of various denominations has been so called—especially groats in 17th century—hence its application to anything spurious or unreal—as in adjectival sense.—See also Brummagem buttons and Brums.

1691. G. Miege, New State Eng., 235. Bromicham, particularly noted
a few years ago for the counterfeit groats made here, and from
hence dispersed all over the kingdom. [M.]

1754. B. Martin, Eng. Dict., 2 ed. Bromidgham, money of base metal.

1834. Southey, The Doctor, ch. cxl. He picked it up, and it proved
to be a Brummejam of the coarsest and clumsiest kind, with a head
on each side.

Adj.—Counterfeit; unreal; sham; showy; pretentious.—See substantive, senses 1 and 2.

1637. Calendar Dom. St. Papers, 105. Those swords which he ...
pretends to be blades of his owne makeing are all Bromedgham blades
and forraine blades.

1686. D’Urfey, Commonwealth of Women, I., i. A Brummingham, son of
a wh—, affront the Noble Admiral!

1866. G. Eliot, Felix Holt, ch. v. ‘The most of the middle class
are as ignorant as the working people about everything that doesn’t
belong to their own Brummagem life.’

1883. Echo, March 28, p. 1, col. 5. There is little of a Brummagem
character about the municipal, parochial, and philanthropic work of
Birmingham, whatever we may think of some of her industrial
productions.

Brummagem Buttons, subs. (common).—Counterfeit coin.

1836. Dickens, Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, I., p. 11.
Bad silver, Brummagem buttons, etc.

1873. Saturday Review, Nov., p. 661. They [Brummagem buttons] were
marvellously inexpensive, and being such ingenious imitations of
the spade guineas and half-guineas then current that many
Englishmen might have failed to detect the difference; they must
have been of very great ‘use to the Indians’ indeed.

Brummish, adj. (common).—Doubtful; counterfeit. [From Brum (q.v.) + ish.]

1805. G. Colman, John Bull Brit. Theat., 55. Two guineas ... one
seems light and t’other looks a little brummish. [M.]

Brums, subs. (Stock Exchange).—London and North Western Stock. (Formerly London and Birmingham Ry.).

1887. Atkin, House Scraps.

We kneel at the feet of our ‘Nancys,’
We load them with ‘cottons’ and ‘tapes.’
If anything tickles our fancy,
We buy them Brums, ‘Caleys’ or ‘Apes.’

Brush.—1. See Brother of the brush.

2. subs. (old).—A hasty departure. For analogous terms, see Amputate.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. VIII., ch. xii. ‘I reminded him, not
without blushing, of my having no money. He answered, “That
signifies nothing, score it behind the door, or make a bold brush,
and take no notice.”’

3. (old.)—A person who decamps hastily, or who evades his creditors.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Brush (v.) ... also a canting
term for one who goes off privately, or runs away from his
creditors, or with stolen goods.

Verb (Christ’s Hospital).—1. To flog.

2. (old.)—To have sexual intercourse. For synonyms, see Ride.

3. (old.)—To run away; to decamp. Also to brush off. For synonyms, see Amputate.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Brush, to Fly or Run away. [M.]

1706. E. Coles, Eng. Dict. Brush, c., run away.

1764. A. Murphy, No One’s Enemy but his Own, Act ii. Rascal, says
my Master, do as I bid you, and so off he brushed to the tune of an
old song.

1776. Foote, Bankrupt, I. But I must brush off, for here comes my
lady.

1837. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (1877), 204. And one Sergeant
Matcham had brush’d with the dibs.

1837. Barham, I. L. (Dead Drummer). One of their drummers, and one
Sergeant Matcham, Had brush’d with the dibs, and they never could
catch’em.

Brusher, subs. (old).—A full glass.

2. (old.)—See quotation.

1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Brusher (s.) ... also one that
gets or steals away privately.

3. (common and schools’.)—A schoolmaster.

4. (American.)—To humbug by flattery.

Brushing up a flat, phr. (general).—Using mealy-mouthed words, or, to employ other slang equivalents, ‘laying it on thick,’ ‘soft soaping one.’

Brute, subs. (University).—See quot.

1868. Brewer, Phrase and Fable, s.v. Brute, in Cambridge University
slang, is a man who has not yet matriculated. The play is evident.
A ‘man,’ in college phrase, is a collegian; and as matriculation is
the sign and seal of acceptance, a scholar before that ceremony is
not a ‘man,’ and therefore only a ‘biped brute.’

Brydport Dagger.—See Bridport dagger.

B. T. I., phr. (American).—An abbreviation of a big thing on ice. These curtailments of slang phrases are not infrequent in America, and among others may be mentioned p.d.q.; o.k.; n.g. and q.k., etc. (q.v.).

Bub, subs. (old).—1. Strong drink of any kind, but usually applied to malt liquor. [It is suggested that this term is onomatopoetic, an imitation of the sound of drinking; others, however, incline to regard the word as a derivative of the Latin bib-ĕre, to drink. Sometimes spelt bubb.] A common expression for eating and drinking is ‘to take bub and grub,’ a French equivalent for which is se caresser l’Angoulême.

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. iv., p. 36 (1874). In a
short time these four return’d laden with bub and food.

1748. Dodsley, Collection of Poems, III., 262.

Tho’ beef twice boil’d his meal, with P—n’s bub,
And sixpence chang’d defrays the frugal club.

1839. H. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard, ep. II., ch. xi. ‘Och! many a
mug o’ bubb have I drained wi’ the landlord.’

2. (common.)—A woman’s breast; generally used in the plural—bubbies (q.v.).

3. (old.)—A brother.

4. (American.)—Also bubby. A term of affection applied to a little boy. [Said to have originated in Pennsylvania from the German Bube.] Likewise used figuratively as a familiar mode of address.

1872. S. Clemens (‘Mark Twain’), Roughing It. The cayote turns
smiles blandly upon him once more, and with a something about it
which seems to say: ‘Well, I shall have to tear myself away from
you, bub—business is business, and it will not do for me to be
fooling along this way all day.’

1888. San Francisco Weekly Examiner. When she was ready to go home,
she did so without carriage or baby. Shortly after bubby kicked up
high jinks, and the joker clerk was sent for to take him away.

5. (old.)—An abbreviated form of bubble, subs.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Bub or bubble, one that is cheated.
[M.]

Verb (old).—1. To drink.—See substantive.

1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. vi., p. 54 (1874). We
straight betook ourselves to the Boozing Ken; and having bubb’d
rumly, we concluded an everlasting friendship.

2. (old.)—To bribe; to cheat. Cf., Bubble.

1719. D’Urfey, Pills, II., 54. Another makes Racing a Trade.... And
many a Crimp Match has made, By bubbing another Man’s Groom.

Bubber, subs. (old).—1. A hard drinker; a confirmed tippler. [From bub (q.v.) = drink + er.] A synonymous French term is un bibassier, but for analogous terms generally, see Elbow crooker.

1653. Middleton, Sp. Gipsy, ii., 1. Though I am no mark in respect
of a huge butt, yet I can tell you great bubbers have shot at me.
[There is a play in the word ‘butt.’]

1674. R. Head, Canting Acad., 191. A bubber ... goes to the
Alehouse, and steals there the Plate.

1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bubber, ... a great
drinker. A thief that steals plate from publick houses.

2. (old.)—A drinking bowl. Cf., derivation of previous sense.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. Bubber, a drinking Bowl; also a
great Drinker, and he that used to steal Plate from Publick-houses.

1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bubber, a drinking
bowl, etc.

3. (old.)—A public house thief.—See quotation 1690, sense 2; also mentioned by Grose [1785].

4. (American.)—A nickname for an old woman with large pendulous breasts. Rarely heard.

1848. Bartlett, Americanisms. Bubber. A stout or stoutly mammalated
old woman. Used in Salem, Mass., in 1820, and since. ‘Bubber
Jones.’ (Fr. poitron, old woman; Old Fr. pect. poitron; Lat.
pectus, the breast.)

Bubbies, subs. (common).—A woman’s breasts. An old term of which the derivation is somewhat doubtful, though it may be noted that the ancient cant has bub in the sense of ‘to drink,’ and also as an abbreviated form of bubby. Arber says that ‘bu bu’ is the cry of a child needing its mother’s milk.—For synonyms, see Dairies.

1686. D’Urfey, New Poems (1690), 206.

The Ladies here may without Scandal shew,
Face or white bubbies, to each ogling Beau.

1693. Congreve, Old Batchelor, Act v., Sc. 7. Did not her eyes
twinkle, and her mouth water? Did not she pull up her little
bubbies?

1712. Arbuthnot, Hist. of John Bull, pt. III., ch. viii. ‘To see a
handsome, brisk, genteel, young fellow so much governed by a
doating old woman! Why don’t you go and suck the bubby?’

1715. Vanbrugh, Country House, II., v. He talked to me of you, and
said you had the charmingest bubbies.

1748. Dodsley, Collection of Poems, III., 191. And snowy bubbies
pull’d above the stays.

1754. B. Martin, Eng. Dict., 2 ed. Bubbys, a woman’s breasts.

Bubbing, subs. (old).—Drinking; tippling.

1678. Poor Robin’s Char. of Scold, 6. She clamours at him so long
... which makes him seek Bubbing-schools to hide himself in from
her fury. [M.]

Bubble, subs. (old).—A dupe; gull; also caravan (q.v.); and rook (q.v.). Grose thinks from the party cheated being like an air-bubble filled with words which are only wind instead of real property. Also apparently used of anything not genuine. Applied to persons, it is older than appears from Murray.

1598. Shakspeare, All’s Well, iii., vi., 5. Sec. Lord. On my life,
my lord, a bubble. Ber. Do you think I am so far deceived in him?

1688. Shadwell, Sq. of Alsatia, III., in wks. (1720) IV., 62. This
kinsman a most silly bubble first, and afterwards a betrayer of
young heirs.

1697. Vanbrugh, Provoked Wife, V., iii. If her conduct has put a
trick upon her virtue, her virtue’s the bubble, but her husband’s
the loser.

1711. Swift, Conduct of the Allies. We are thus become the dupes
and bubbles of Europe.

1712. Arbuthnot, History of John Bull, pt. II., ch. iii. He has
been my bubble [tool] these twenty years; and to my certain
knowledge, understands no more of his own affairs than a child in
swaddling clothes.

1750. Fielding, Tom Jones, bk. I., ch. vii. ‘This would be to own
herself the meer tool and bubble of the man.’

1788. G. A. Stevens, Adv. of a Speculist, I., 69. He persuades his
bubble, that he will insure him a certain safe way of getting a sum
of money.

1795. R. Cumberland, The Jew, Act iii., Sc. 2. If he attempts to
raise money upon expectancies, be at their peril who are fools
enough to trust him: No prudent man will be his bubble.

1805. G. Barrington, New London Spy (4 ed.), p. 24. The shame of
being thought a bubble, and exposed to the town, frequently
prevents gentlemen from making use of the statute provided in such
cases.

Verb (old).—To cheat; humbug; delude as with bubbles; to overreach. Cf., substantive sense.

1664. Etheridge, Comical Revenge, II., iii., in wks. (1704), 24. I
believe he’s gone down to Receive money; ’twere an excellent design
to bubble him.

1685. Dryden, Prol. to Albion and Albanius, 23.

Freedom and zeal have choused you o’er and o’er;
Pray give us leave to bubble you once more.

1711. Spectator, No 89. That she has bubbled him out of his youth
... and that he verily believes she will drop him in his old age,
if she can find her account in another.

1752. Fielding, Amelia, bk. XI., ch. iv. He ... actually bubbled
several of their money by undertaking to do them services, which,
in reality, were not within his power.

1777. Sheridan, Trip to Scarborough, Act ii. Help the gentleman
with a chair, and carry him to my house presently—that’s the
properest place—[aside]—to bubble him out of his money.

1788. G. A. Stevens, Adv. of a Speculist, I., 75. And this was the
language which the pretenders to the Philosopher’s Stone used to
bubble their pigeons with.

1880. McCarthy, Own Times, III., xli., 235. Some critics declared
... that the French Emperor had bubbled him [Mr. Cobden].

Bubbleable, adj. (old).—That can be duped; gullible. [A very rare form from bubble, to cheat, + able.]

1669. Nicker Nicked, in Hart. Misc. (ed. Park), II., 109. If the
winner be bubbleable, they will insinuate themselves into his
acquaintance, and civilly invite him to drink a glass of wine;
wheedle him into play, and win all his money.

Bubble and Squeak, subs. phr. (common).—A compound of cold meat fried up with potatoes and greens. [From the hissing sound produced by the frying; originally nautical.]

1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bubble and squeak,
beef and cabbage fried together; it is so called from its bubbling
up and squeaking whilst over the fire.

1786–89. Wolcot (‘P. Pindar’), Lousiad, ch. i., line 366.

Such is the sound (the simile’s not weak)
Form’d by what mortals bubble call, and squeak,
When ’midst the frying-pan, in accents savage,
The beef so sorely quarrels with the cabbage.

1853. Lytton, My Novel, bk. VIII., ch. viii. ‘Rank and title!
bubble and squeak! No, not half so good as bubble and squeak.
English beef and good cabbage.’

Bubble Buff, subs. (old).—A bailiff.