bluebird of happiness
A symbol of joy and contentment
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Where will you be? Anywhere UK & IrelandUnited StatesOnline slangBusiness jargon
blued
Or BLEWED, tipsy, or drunk. Now given way to SLEWED.
blues
A fit of despondency.—See BLUE DEVILS.
bluey
Lead.—German, BLEI. Most likely, though, from the colour, as the term is of the very lowest slang.
bluff
Fierce, surly. He looked as bluff as bull beef.
bluff
An excuse; also the game at cards known as euchre in America.
bluffer
An inn-keeper. Cant.
blunderbuss
A short gun, with a wide bore, for carrying slugs; also a stupid, blundering fellow.
blunt
A marijuana cigar.
blunt
Money. It has been said that this term is from the French BLOND, sandy or golden colour, and that a parallel may be found in BROWN or BROWNS, the slang for half-pence. Far-fetched as this etymology seems, it may be correct, as it is borne out by the analogy of similar expressions. Cf. BLANQUILLO, a word used in Morocco and Southern Spain for a small Moorish coin. The "asper" (ἄσπρον) of Constantinople is called by the Turks AKCHEH, i.e., "little white."
blur the line
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
blurt out
To say something suddenly and without thinking
bo-peep
Sleep.
bo-peep
One who sometimes hides himself, and sometimes appears publicly abroad, is said to-play at bo-peep. Also one who lies perdue, or on the watch.
Boar's Head
The Old English custom of serving this as a Christmas dish is said to derive from Scandinavian mythology. Freyr, the god of peace and plenty, used to ride on the boar Gullmbursti ; his festival was held at Yuletide (winter solstice),, when a boar was sacrificed to his honour.
board wages
Wages paid to servants which includes the cost of their food. Ser- vants "on board wages" provide their own victuals.
board-of-green-cloth
A facetious synonym for a card or billiard table.
boardie
surfer
boarding school
Bridewell, Newgate, or any other prison, or house of correction.
boarding school
A school where the pupils are fed and lodged as well as taught The term is sometimes applied to "prison." I am going to boarding school, going to prison to be taught good behaviour.
boat
Originally to transport; the term is now applied to penal servitude. To "get the BOAT," or to "be BOATED," is to be sentenced to a long term of imprisonment equivalent to transportation under the old system.
boat race
The face.
boatercycle
A jet ski.
bob
A shilling.
bob
A shoplifter's assistant, or one that receives and carries off stolen goods. All is bob; all is safe. Cant.
bob
A shilling. Formerly BOBSTICK, which may have been the original. BOB-A-NOB, a shilling a-head.
bob stay
A rope which holds the bowsprit to the stem or cutwater. Figuratively, the frenum of a man's yard.
bob tail
A lewd woman, or one that plays with her tail; also an impotent man, or an eunuch. Tag, rag, and bobtail; a mob of all sorts of low people. To shift one's bob; to move off, or go away. To bear a bob; to join in chorus with any singers. Also a term used by the sellers of game, for a partridge.
bob's your uncle
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
bob's your uncle
In other words, "That'll be all right; you needn't bother any more." The origin of the phrase is unknown; it was certainly in use in the 1880s, but no satisfactory explanation of who "Bob" was has been brought forward.
bob, my pal
A gal,—vulgar pronunciation of girl.
bobar
Excrement.
bobbar
Excrement.
bobbed
Cheated, tricked, disappointed.
bobbery
A squabble, tumult.—Anglo-Indian.
bobbish
Smart, clever, spruce.
bobbish
Very well, clever, spruce. "How are you doing?" "Oh! pretty BOBBISH."—Old.
bobby
A policeman: both BOBBY and PEELER were nicknames given to the new police, in allusion to the Christian name and surname of the late Sir Robert Peel, who was the prime mover in effecting their introduction and improvement. The term BOBBY is, however, older than the introduction of the new police. The official square-keeper, who is always armed with a cane to drive away idle and disorderly urchins, has, time out of mind, been called by the said urchins, "BOBBY the beadle."
bobstick
A shilling.
bod
The body.
bodes me no good
GAY: Fable, xxxvii. Bar sinister. See BAR.
bodkin
Any one sitting between two others in a carriage, is said "to ride BODKIN." Amongst sporting men, applied to a person who takes his turn between the sheets on alternate nights, when the hotel has twice as many visitors as it can comfortably lodge; as, for instance, during a race-week.
body and soul
Completely and utterly
body blow
A severe setback or disappointment
body colour
Paint containing body or consistency. Water-colours are made opaque by mixing with white lead.
body corporate
An aggregate of indivi- duals legally united into a corporation.
body English
nonverbal communication using body language
body-snatcher
A bailiff or runner: SNATCH, the trick by which the bailiff captures the delinquent. These terms are now almost obsolete, so far as the pursuits mentioned are concerned.
boeotian ears
Ears unable to appreciate music or rhetoric. Well, friend, I assure thee thou hast not got Boeotian ears [because you can appreciate the beauties of my sermons], — LE SAGE: Gil Bias, vii, 3.
boep
beer belly
boerie
boerewors
bog
To go away.
bog
Or BOG-HOUSE, a privy, as distinguished from a water-closet. Originally printers’ slang, but now very common, and not applied to any particular form of cabinet d’aisance. "To BOG" is to ease oneself by evacuation.
bog house
The necessary house. To go to bog; to go to stool.
bog lander
An Irishman; Ireland being famous for its large bogs, which furnish the chief fuel in many parts of that kingdom.
bog latin
Barbarous Latin. Irish.--See DOG LATIN, and APOTHECARIES LATIN.
bog off
go away, leave me alone
bog orange
A potato.
bog-oranges
Potatoes. A phrase perhaps derived from the term "Irish fruit," which, by some strange peculiarity has been applied to potatoes; for even the most ignorant Cockney could hardly believe that potatoes grow in a bog.
bog-trotter
Satirical name for an Irishman.—Miege. Camden, however, speaking of the "debateable land" on the borders of England and Scotland, says, "both these dales breed notable BOG-TROTTERS."
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