Dictionary of Americanisms - A-B



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DICTIONARY
OF

AMERICAN WORDS AND PHRASES.


ABISSELFA. A, by itself, A. It will be recollected by many, that in the
olden time, the first letter of the alphabet was denominated "abisselfa"
when it formed a syllable by itself, in in the word able. The scholar, in
spelling the word, was taught to say, "a, by itself, a, (rapidly,
abisselfa,) b, l, e, able." We derive this word and the use of it from
England, where it is used in Suffolk County.--Moor's Glossary.

ABOVE-BOARD. In open sight; without artifice, or trick. "A figurative
expression," says Johnson, "borrowed from gamesters, who, when they put
their hands under the table, are exchanging their cards."

It is the part of an honest man to deal above-board, and without tricks.--
L'Estrange.

ABOVE ONE'S BEND. Out of one's power; beyond reach. A common expression in
the Western States.

I shall not attempt to describe the curiosities at Peale's Museum; it is
above my bend.--Crockett, Tour down East, p.64.

ABSQUATULATE. To run away, to abscond. Used only in familiar language.

W---- was surrendered by his bail, who was security for his appearance at
court, fearing he was about to absquatulate.--N. Y. Herald, 1847.

ACKNOWLEDGE THE CORN. An expression of recent origin, which has now become
very common. It means to confess, or acknowledge a charge or imputation.
The following story is told as the origin of the phrase:

Some years ago, a raw customer, from the upper country, determined

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to try his fortune at New Orleans. Accordingly he provided himself with
two flat-boats--one laden with corn and the other with potatoes--and down
the river he went. The night after his arrival he went up town, to a
gambling house. Of course he commenced betting, and his luck proving
unfortunate, he lost. When his money was gone, he bet his "truck;" and the
corn and potatoes followed the money. At last, when completely cleaned
out, he returned to his boats at the wharf; when the evidences of a new
misfortune presented themselves. Through some accident or other, the flat-
boat containing the corn was sunk, and a total loss. Consoling himself as
well as he could, he went to sleep, dreaming of gamblers, potatoes, and
corn.

It was scarcely sunrise, however, when he was disturbed by the "child of
chance," who had arrived, to take possession of the two boats as his
winnings. Slowly awakening from his sleep, our hero, rubbing his eyes, and
looking the man in the face, replied: "Stranger, I acknowledge the corn--
take 'em; but the potatoes you can't have, by thunder."--Pittsburgh Com.
Advertiser.

The Evening Mirror very naively comes out and acknowledges the corn,
admits that a demand was made, &c.--New York Herald, June 27, 1846.

Mr. Tyler, in reply (to certain charges), boldly acknowledges the corn,
and says that the cards of invitation were signed by him, &c.-- New York
Tribune, Jan. 26, 1845.

Enough, said the Captain. I'm hoaxed, I'm gloriously hoaxed. I acknowledge
the corn.--Pickings from the Picayune, p.80.

ACCOUNTABILITY. The state of being liable to answer for one's conduct;
liable to give account, and to receive reward or punishment for actions.--
Webster. This word, so much used by our divines, is not to be found in any
English Dictionary except the recent one of Mr. Knowles. Mr. Todd, in his
additions to Johnson's Dictionary, has accountableness, the state of being
accountable.

Reason and liberty imply accountableness.-- Duncan's Logic.

We would use accountability instead, as in the following example:
The awful idea of accountability.--Robert Hall.

ADAM'S ALE. Water. A colloquial expression, used both in England and
America.

To slake his thirst, he took a drink
Of Adam's Ale from river's brink.--Reynard the Fox.

TO ADMIRE. 1. To like very much. This verb is much and very absurdly used
in New England in expressions like the following: "I should admire to see
the President."

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TO ADMIRE. 2. To wonder at; to be affected with slight surprise.-- Ray. In
New England, particularly in Maine, this word is used in this sense. Some
of the old English writers so employed it.

I perceive these lords
At this rencontre do so much admire
That they devour their reason.--Shakspeare.

ADOBIES. (Sp. adobes.) Sun-baked brick used for building houses,
fortifications, and making inclosures on the Western frontier of the
United States.

TO ADVOCATE. (Lat. advoco. Fr. avocasser.) To plead, to support, to
defend.--Todd. To plead in favor of; to defend by argument before a
tribunal; to support or vindicate.--Webster.

This word has been particularly noticed by recent Lexicographers; as it is
one of that class which has fallen into disuse in England, and, by English
and American critics not familiar with its history, has been set down as
an Americanism. It is a useful word, and has long been employed by our
best writers.

In speaking of this word, Mr. Boucher observes in his Glossary, "that it
has been said that it is an improvement of the English language, which has
been discovered by the people of the United States of North America, since
their separation from Great Britain;" but that it can be shown to be a
very common Scottish word. Mr. Todd, the learned editor of Johnson's
Dictionary, is also unwilling to allow this concession to us, and says,
"It is an old English word, employed by one of our finest and most manly
writers; and if the Americans affect to plume themselves on this pretended
improvement of our language, let them, as well as their abettors, withdraw
the unfounded claim to discovery, in turning to the prose writings of
Milton. In the Dictionaries of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,
however, as in the Latin of Thomas, the Spanish of Minshew, the Italian of
Florio, and the French of Colgrave, advoco, advogar, avocare, and
avocasser, are rendered, not to advocate, but "to play the advocate."
This is the only thing distinct and sensible that has been advocated.--
Burke, Speech on the Reform of Representatives.

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"Though this verb is found in Milton," says Mr. Pickering, "yet it does
not appear to have been in common use in England, either at the time lie
wrote, or since that period. It has very recenly been adopted by a few
other writers, and seems now to be getting into use in England." Dr.
Webster makes no remarks as to the legitimacy of the word, but gives
several examples of its use. From the vocabulary of Mr. Pickering, the
Glossary of Mr. Boucher, and the Dictionary of Dr. Webster, the following
illustrations have been selected.

The members of the College of Justice have this privilege, that they
cannot be pursued before any inferior judge; and if they be, the lords
will advocate the cause to themselves.--Sir Geo. Mackenzie, Institutes of
Law.

How little claim, persons who advocate this sentiment, really possess to
be considered Calvinists, will appear from the following quotation.--
Mackenzie's Life of Calvin.

The most eminent orators were engaged to advocate his cause.--Mitford.

But from his want of sobermindedness, we cannot always prove his
earnestness in the cause he advocated.--D'Israeli, Quarrels of Authors.
From American writers are the following examples:

Some are taking unwearied pains to disparage the motive of those
Federalists who advocate the equal support of, &c.- -Alex. Hamilton.

I shall on a future occasion examine impartially, and endeavor to
ascertain precisely the true value of this opinion, which is so warmly
advocated by all the great orators of antiquity.--J. Q. Adams, Rhetoric.

The idea of a legislature consisting of a single branch, though advocated
by some, was generally reprobated.--Ramsey, Hist. of S. Carolina.

This seems to be a foreign and local dialect, and cannot be advocated by
any person who understands correct English.--Webster, Diss. on the English
Language, p.111.

AFEARD. (Ang. Saxon afered.) Afraid; frightened; terrified.- -Todd's
Johnson.

This is a good old English word, though now considered a vulgarism; and as
common in ancient times, as afraid is at present. It is provincial in
various parts of England, and among uneducated persons in the United
States.

A gret ok he coolde breide a doun, as it a smal gerdo were,
And here forth in his honde, that fole forte afere.--Robt. of Gloucester.

With scalled browes blake, and pilled bend;
Of his visage children were sore aferd?--Chaucer, Cant. Tales.

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Hal! art thou not horribly afeard?-- Shakspeare, Henry IV.

Chin as woolly as the peach,
And his lips should kissing teach,
Till he cherished too much beard,
And made love or me afear'd.--Ben Jonson, Her Man described.

It has been supposed, that in Chaucer's time, there was a difference
between the significations of afeard and afraid, as in one instance he
employs both in the same verse.

His wife was neither afeard nor afraid.--Canterbury Tales.

The following are examples of the use of the word by American writers:
I an't afeared of the old Harry himself, but I vum! I never dare speak to
Rhody.--Margaret, p.87.

I promised when I caught him, to give him a licking, and I was afear'd I'd
have to break the peace.--J. C. Neal, Sketches.

AFORE. (Sax. æforan.) Before; sooner in time; in front; rather than.--
Todd's Johnson.

This old word is gone entirely out of use in elegant language. It is now
provincial in England, and in the United States is used only by the
illiterate.

If your diligence be not speedy, I shall be there afore you.--Shakspeare,
K. Lear.

Approaching nigh, he roared high afore
His body monstrous, horrible, and vast.--Spenser, F. Queen.

KEEP. Afore I'll

Endure the tyranny of such a tongue

And such a pride--
POL. What will you do?
KEEP. Tell truth.--Ben Jonson.

AFOREHAND. (Old English.) Beforehand. Aforehand in business, i. e.
successful.

Once good English, now a provincialism.

For it will be said, that in the former times, whereof we have spoken,
Spain was not so mighty as now it is; and England, on the other side, was
more aforehand in all matters of power.- -Bacon, War with Spain.

AFTERCLAPS. Unexpected events happening after an affair is supposed to be
at an end.--Todd's Johnson.

Although this is a genuine old English word, it is now seldom heard except
in familiar conversation.

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For the next morrow's meed they closely went,
For fear of afterclaps to prevent.--Spenser, Hub. Tale.

Let that man, who can be so far taken and transported with the present
pleasing offers of a temptation, as to overlook those dreadful afterclaps
which usually bring up the rear of it.--South, Sermons, VI.

She wyll thee graunt it liberally perhappes;
But for all that, beware of afterclaps.--Sir Thomas More.

AFTER NIGHT. After nightfall; in the evening; as, "A meeting will be held
in the court-house after night." This expression is said to be peculiar to
Pennsylvania.--Hurd's Grammatical Corrector.

AGY, for ague; fever-nagy, for 'fever and ague;' common among the
uneducated, wherever this distressing disease is known.

AHEAD. Originally a sea-term. Farther onward than another.-- Johnson.

This word has now become very common, and signifies forward, in advance.
Our banks, being anxious to make money for their stockholders, are
probably right to drive ahead, regardless of consequences, &c.--N. Y. Com.
Adv. Nov. 29, 1845.

ALBANY BEEF. Sturgeon; a fish which abounds in the Hudson river; so called
by the people in the State of New York.

ALEWIFE, plur. alewives. (Indian, aloof. Alosa vernalis, Storer,
Massachusetts Rep't.) A fish of the herring kind, abounding in the waters
of New England.

The name appears to be an Indian one, though it is somewhat changed, as
appears by tile earliest account we have of it. In former times, the
Indians made use of these fish to manure their lands, as the menhaden are
now used. Mr. Winthrop says, "Where the ground is bad or worn out, they
put two or three of the fishes called aloofes under or adjacent to each
corn-hill; whereby they had many times a double crop to what the ground
would otherwise have produced. The English have learned the like
husbandry, where these aloofes come up in great plenty."--Philosophical
Trans. 1678.

ALIENAGE. The state of being an alien.--Webster.

Neither this nor the following word is to be found in the

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English dictionaries, except the recent one of Mr. Knowles. They are
common, however, in professional books.

Where he sues an executor, &c., the plaintiff's alienage is no plea.--
Laires' Pleading on Assumpsit, p. 687.

To restore estates, forfeitable on account of alienage.-- Chancellor Kent.

ALIENISM. The state of being an alien.--Webster, Knowles.

The prisoner was convicted of murder; on his arraignment he suggested his
alienism, which was admitted.--2 Johnson's Reports, 381.

The law was very gentle in the construction of the disability of
alienism.--Chancellor Kent.

ALLEY. (Lat. albus, white.) An ornamented marble, used by boys for
shooting in the ring, &c.; also called in England, a taw. It is often made
of white marble or of painted clay.

ALL-FIRED. Very, in a great degree. A low American word.

The first thing I know'd, my trowsers were plastered all over with hot
molasses, which burnt all-fired bad.--Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 87.

Old Haines sweating ILke a pitcher with ice-water in it, and looking all-
fired tired.--Porter's Tales of the Southwest, p.50.

I was woked up by a noise in the street; so I jumps up in an all- fired
hurry, ups with the window, and outs with my head.--Sam Slick.

You see the fact is, Squire (said the Hooshier), they had a mighty deal to
say up in our parts about Orleans, and how all-fired easy it is to make
money in it; but it's no ham and all hominy, I reckon.-- Pickings from the
Picayune, p.47.

I'm dying--I know I am! My mouth tastes like a rusty cent. The doctor will
charge an all-fired price to cure me.--Knickerbocker Mag. 1845.

ALL OVER. Bearing a resemblance to some particular object. The word is
common in familiar language.

The Southern Standard, in noticing Dombey and Son, says: "We have read
this work so far with great interest; it is Dickens all over." Meaning
that it partakes fully of the character of Dickens's writings.

By the following example it appears that English writers use the word in
the same sense. Sir George Simpson, in speaking of the indolence of the
Californians, and of the deficiencies in all the comforts of life, says:
The only articles on the bare floor, were some gaudy chairs from the
Sandwich Islands. This was California all over; the richest and most
influential individual in a professedly civilized country, obliged to
borrow the means of sitting from savages.--Journey round the World, Vol.
I. p.173.

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ALL-OVERISH. Neither sick nor well. A low word, used both in England and
America.

TO ALLOT UPON. To intend, to form a purpose; as, I allot upon going to
Boston. Used by uneducated people in the interior of New England.

TO ALLOW. To acknowledge, to think. Used in a very loose manner like the
word guess.

The lady of the cabin seemed kind, and allowed we had better stop where we
were.--Carlton, The New Purchase.

ALL SORTS OF. A Southern expression, synonymous with expert, acute,
excellent, capital. It answers to the English slang term bang-up. It is a
prevalent idiom of low life, and often heard in the colloquial language of
the better informed. A man who in New England would be called a curious or
a smart fellow, would in the South be called all sorts of a fellow.
Sometimes one hears the expression "all sorts of a horse," or, "all sorts
of a road."

She was all sorts of a gal--there warn't a sprinklin' too much of her--she
had an eye that would make a fellow's heart try to get out of his bosom;--
her step was light as a panther's, and her breath sweet as a prairie
flower.--Robb, Squatter Life.

ALL-STANDING. Without preparation, suddenly.

This, like many other common expressions, seems to be borrowed from the
sea. Thus, a ship in full career, whose course is suddenly checked by
striking against a rock, or by a squall of wind, is said to be brought-to
all-standing, i.e. with all her sails set and unprepared for stopping. And
hence we say, for instance, of a horseman or an orator whose course is
suddenly checked, that he is brought up all-standing.

It was no stumble, no pitching head first over a steep precipice; but on
the contrary, I walked directly off the giddy height--to use a common
expression, went over all-standing.- -Kendall's Santa Fé Expedition.

ALL-TO-SMASH. Smashed to pieces. This expression is often heard in low and
familiar language. It is an English provincialism. Mr. Halliwell says,
that a Lancashire man, telling his master the miil-dam had burst,
exclaimed, "Maister, maister, dam's brossen, and aw's-to-smash.--Archaic
and Prov. Dictionary.

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ALL-WINSOME. Winsome is a word used in the north of England, (Ang. Sax.
winsum, pleasant,) sweet, pleasant. I have never heard the word, although
an American writer thus uses it:

What absence of that anagogical, all-prevalent, all-winsome Brahminism in
Christ!--Margaret, p. 258.

ALONE. Sole. The German allein is used in like manner thus, alleinbesitz,
sole, exclusive possession; alleinhandel, sole trade, monopoly. Mr. Todd
says, the English word was formerly written all-one, aud was used in this
sense by old writers. Mr. Pickering says, "It is often heard from our
pulpits in expressions like the following: The alone God; the alone
motive, &c. It is now rarely used, although I heard it in a prayer during
the present year (1848). The following examples from English writers cited
by Johnson and Pickering show its use:

God, by whose alone power and conversation we all live, and move, and have
our being.--Bentley.

The Legislature never pretended to omnipotence; that is the alone
attribute of the people.--British Critic, Vol. IX. p. 234.

TO AMALGAMATE. This word, which properly denotes the compounding or mixing
of metals, is universally applied in the United States to the mixing of
the black and white races.

AMALGAMATION. The mixing or union of the black and white races.

AMAZING. Wonderfully; very, in a great degree. A vulgarism.

Everything in New York on a May-day looks amazin' different, and smells
amazin' different, I can tell you.--Maj. Downing, p. 13.

AMAZINGLY. Exceedingly, very much. Used only in colloquial language and
applied to trifling things.

Major, I like this 'ere churn amazingly.-- Ibid, p. 58.

AMBITION. In North Carolina this word is used instead of the word grudge,
as, "I had an ambition against that man." I am credibly informed that it
is even used in this manner by educated men.

TO AMBITION. (Fr. ambitionner.) Ambitiously to seek after.-- Webster.

This is what I ambition for my own country.-- Jefferson's Writings.

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This word is not common. It is not in the English Dictionaries; yet
examples may be found of its use by late English Writers.
On dress occasions, the ladies of the upper ranks despise the mantilla,
ambitioning nothing so much as a fashionable French bonnet.--London
Spectator, June 7, 1845.

AMENABILITY. State of being amenable or answerable.--Judge Story. Webster.

Not in the English Dictionaries.

AMERICANISM. A way of speaking peculiar to this country.- -Witherspoon.

"By Americanism," says Dr. Witherspoon, "I understand a use of phrases or
terms, or a construction of sentences, even among persons of rank and
education, different from the use of the same terms or phrases, or the
construction of similar sentences, in Great Britain. In this sense it is
exactly similar in its formation and signification to the word
Scotticism."--Works, Vol. IV. p. 82.

TO AMERICANIZE. To render American; to naturalize in America.-- Webster.

AMOST. Almost. A vulgarism alike common in England and the United States.
E'en amost is often heard in New England.

AMONG, for between. This word is often used when reference is made only to
two persons. Ex. "The money was divided among us two."

AMPERSAND. The character &, representing the conjunction and. It is a
corruption of "and, per se, and" (and, by itself, and). This expression
was formerly very common in this country, but seems now to have gone out
of use. It may, however, be retained in the interior, where the modern
system of education has not reached. Mr. Halliwell, who notices this word
in his Archaic and Prov. Dict'y, says, that it is or was common in
England. In Hampshire it is pronounced amperzed, and very often amperze-
and. Strutt, in his Sports and Pastimes, mentions an ancient alphabet of
the fourteenth century, now in the Harleian Library, at the end of which
is "X Y wyth ESED AND per se--Amen."

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ANGELOLOGY. A discourse on angels; or the doctrine of angelic beings.--
Webster.

These questions may easily be answered, by a proper survey of the
angelology of the Scripture.--Stuart on the Apocalypse, Vol. 11. p. 397.

ANNULMENT. (Fr. annullement.) The act of annulling.-- Pickering's Vocab.

This word was not in any English Dictionary before Todd's edition of
Johnson.

The annulment of the belligerent edicts.-- Cor. of Sec'y of State to Mr.
Pinckney, 1810.

AN'T, or AINT. A common abbreviation in colloquial language for am not and
are not. It is often improperly used for is not. It is equally common in
England.

ANTAGONIZING. Conflicting, opposing.--Pickering's Vocabulary.

This word, says Mr. Pickering, has been censured by an American critic, in
the following passage:

Nor can I forbear to remark the tendency of antagonizing appeals.--John Q.
Adams's Letter to H. G. Otis.

The verb is given by Johnson, hut not the participle, nor is it noliced by
Webster. Prof. Goodrich has inserted it in his new edition (184S) of
Webster's Dictionary.

ANTI-FEDERALIST. "This word was formed about the year 1788, to denote a
person of the political party that opposed the adoption of the
Constitution of the United States, which was then always spoken of by the
name of the Federal Constitution. The word is not now much used; having
been superseded by various other names, which have been successively given
to the same party."--Pickering's Vocabulary.

ANTI-SLAVERY. Hostile to slavery.

ANTI-MASON. One hostile to masonry or free-masonry.--Worcester.

ANTI-MASONIC. Hostile to masonry.

ANY HOW. At any rate, on any account, in any way.

We have no confidence in cobble-stone pavement for Broadway any how.--New
York Tribune, October 25, 1845.

This expression is not peculiar to this country.

All Nelson wanted was to go to Copenhagen; and he said, "Let it be by the
the Sound, or by the Belt, or any how."- -Nelson's Despatches, Vol. IV.

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ANY HOW YOU CAN FIX IT. At any rate whatever.

ANY MANNER OF MEANS. An expression much used instead of any means.

TO APE ONE'S BETTERS. To imitate one's superiors.

The negroes are good singers; they are an imitative race, and it is not to
be wondered at that in this, as in other things, they ape their betters.--
Newspaper.

APPELLATE. Relating to appeals.

In all cases affecting ambassadors, &c. the supreme court shall have
original jurisdiction: In all other cases before mentioned, the supreme
court shall have appellate jurisdiction.-Constitut. of the U. States, Art.
3.

The king of France is not the fountain of justice; the judges neither the
original nor the appellate are of his nomination.-- Burke, Revolution.
For a fuller account of this word, about which there has been much
discussion by lexicographers, see Mr. Pickering's Vocabulary, where many
authorities are cited. It was first given by Mason in his supplement to
Johnson's Dictionary, and was afterwards adopted by Todd.

APPLE BUTTER. A sauce made of apples stewed down in cider. This is
generally made in quantity, and kept for use during the winter.

APPLE BRANDY,}
APPLE JACK.} A liquor distilled from cider; also called cider brandy.

APPLE-PIE ORDER. An expression used in familiar conversation, denoting
perfect order. It is used alike in England and America.--Halliwell's
Dict'y.

As the period for the assembling of Congress approaches, an air of
bustling activity is noticeable in everything, from the preparation of the
"Message" down to the scrubbing of door-plates. The landladies are putting
their lodgings in apple-pie order for the members, &c.--Newspaper.

The ferry-boats are kept running in apple-pie order under the vigilant
superintendence of Capt. Woolsey.--New York Tribune.

APPLICANT. A diligent student.--Pickering's Vocab. One who applies himself
closely to his studies. A sense of the word common in New England. The
English appear to use the word only in the sense of "one who applies for
anything," in which sense it is most commonly employed by us.

APPOINTABLE. That may be appointed or constituted; as officers are
appointed by the Executive.--Federalist, Webster.

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TO APPRECIATE. v. a. To raise the value of.--Webster.

This sense of the word is not in any English dictionary except Knowles's,
which is quite a recent work.

Lest a sudden peace should appreciate the money.--Ramsay.

The common use of this verb, however, is, as in England, to set a just
value on. Also, v. n. to rise in value; as, "the currency of the country
appreciates."--Webster.

APPRECIATION. A rising in value; increase of worth or value.-- Webster.

This noun, like the verb from which it is derived, is commonly used by us
in its appropriate meaning of a just valuation; and this will hereafter be
understood of all similar words where a peculiar meaning is assigned to
them, unless an express statement is made to the contrary.

TO APPROBATE. (Lat. approbo, to approve.) To express approbation of; to
manifest a liking, or degree of satisfaction; to expres approbation
officially, as of one's fitness for a public trust.--Webster.

Dr. Webster observes that this is a modern word, but in common use in
America. Mr. Todd introduces it in his edition of Johnson, from Cockeram's
old vocabulary, the delinition of which is, to allow, to like. Mr. Todd
says it is obsolete.

All things contained in Scripture is approbate by the whole consent of all
the clergie of Christendom.-- Sir T. Elyot's Governor, fol. 226.

"This word," says Mr. Pickering, "was formerly much used at our colleges,
instead of the old English word approve. The students used to speak of
having their performances approbated by their instructors. It is now in
common use with our clergy as a sort of technical term, to denote a person
who is licensed to preach: they would say, such a one is approbated, that
is, licensed to preach. It is also common in New England to say of a
person, who is licensed by the County Courts to sell spirituous liquors,
or to keep a public house, that he is approbated; and the term is adopted
in the law of Massachusetts on this subject."--Pickering's Vocabulary.

TO ARGUFY. To import, to have weight as an argument; to argue.

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This vile word has a place in several of the English glossaries. In this
country it is only heard among the most illiterate.

ARK. The common abbreviation for "Arkansas."

ARK. A large boat, used on some of the Western rivers, to transport
merchandise. Before the use of steamboats, they were employed on the Ohio
and Mississippi rivers. Dr. Harris thus describes them: "They are made
with plank, fastened upon ribs or knees, by wooden bolts. They are from
twelve to fifteen feet wide, and from forty to sixty long; carrying,
commonly, sixty or eighty tons burden. They float down the stream with the
current, and are not worked with oars, except to direct and propel them to
the shore. These boats go down the river to New Orleans; and after
discharging their cargoes, they are taken apart, aud sold for lumber with
very little loss."--Tour in Ohio in 1803.

ARY, either. A vulgarism used by the illiterate.

AS GOOD AS GO.}
AS GOOD'S GO.} In the phrase, I'd as good's go to New York, instead of "I
might as well go to New York." "I'd as good's do this," for, I may as well
do this. Only heard among the illiterate.

ASH-HOPPER. A lie cask, or an inverted pymmidal box to contain ashes,
resembling a hopper in a mill. They are common in the country, where
people make their own soap.

ASSOCIATION. In ecclesiastical affairs, a society of the clergy,
consisting of a number of pastors of neighboring churches, united for
promoting the interests of religion and the harmony of the churches.--
Webster.

ASSOCIATION. In civil affairs, this word is much used at the present day,
to denote the principle of uniting the producing classes in societies, for
the purpose of obtaining for themselves a larger share of the fruits of
their labor.

The citizens of Illinois are well prepared for Association. They are, to a
great extent, freed from the prejudices and bigotry which pervade every
nook and corner of the older States. There is here a feeling of
liberality--a spirit of inquiry, before which spurious Civilization c~n(e4
cannot long make headway. We say to all friends of Association, come West.
But we

p. 15

say, at the same time, don't come, until you are convinced it is for your
interest and the interest of the cause of Association that you should
come.--New York Tribune.

We do not claim that our Rules are perfect, but we wish to make them so;
being firmly convinced that the Science taught by Fourier will ultimately
lead us into true Association, if we follow it as a science, and that we
must have some correct rules of progress to govern us during the
transition period from Civilization to Association.- -Ibid.

ASSOCIATIONAL. Pertainiug to an association of clergymen.- -Webster.

In order to obtain a license, and afterwards to be admitted to ordination,
they (the students in divinity) must, in each case, pass through the
Associational or Presbyterian examination.-- Quarterly Rev., 1815.

ASSOCIATIONIST. One who advocates the Fourier doctrine of association.

AT, for by. Used in this expression, "Sales at auction."

The English say--"Sales by auction," and this is in analogy with the
expressions--Sales by inch of candle; sales by private contract.--
Pickering's Vocab.

Sometimes English writers use the word as we do.
Those execrable wretches, who could become purchasers at the auction of
their fellow-creatures.--Burke's Reflections.

ATHENÆUM. A building or an apartment, where a library, periodicals, and
newspapers are kept for public use, or for a reading room.-- Webster.

ATOP. On or at the top, upon. Atop of a horse. A vulgarism common in
England and America.

ATTACKTED, for attacked. This corruption is only heard among the most
illiterate.

It is common also in the dialect of the lower classes in London.-- Pegge's
Anecdotes.

ATTITUDINIZE. To assume affected attitudes.--Worcester.

AUSPICATE. (Lat. auspicio.) To foreshow or fotetell the event.- -
Richardson. This old word, though unnoticed by Johnson, may be found in
Holland's translations, Ben Jonson and other early writers. It is but
rarely used at the present day.

King Edward therefore presented himself before the strong towne of
Berwick, with a mighty haste, there to auspicate his entrance to a
conquest of England.--Speed, History of Great Britain.

Would to God I could auspicate good influences.--Webster's Speech.

p. 16

AUTHORESS. A female writer who has printed her compositions.-- Jodrell's
Philology.

The use of this word has been questioned in England. It is not in
Johnson's Dictionary, and as he says, it is not much used. This was sixty
years ago. The British Critic, in the year 1793, says of it, "We do not
acknowledge the word." Since that time Mr. Todd has inserted it in his
edition of Johnson's Dictionary, from Cotgrave, (French, authrice, or
autrix, authoress, or actress,) and defines it, "a female efficient." This
sense of the word is different from that in which we use it.

O Amarillis, auth'ress of my flame!--Fanshawe, Pasi. Fido.

Albeit, his (Adam's) loss, without God's mercy, was absolutely
irrecoveralbe; yet we never find he twitted her as authoress of his fall.--
Feltham.

Mrs. Montagu, the justly celebrated authoress of the Essay on the Genius
and Writings of our Author.--Steven's Notes, Hamlet.

AUTHORITY. In Connecticut the justices of the peace are denominated the
civil authority.--Webster.

Mr. Pickering says, "This word is also used in some of the States in
speaking collectively of the professors, &c. of our colleges, to whom the
government of those institutions is intrusted."

"The authority required him to give bonds for his good behavior."--Miss H.
Adams's Hist. of New England, p. 64.

AVAILED. Dr. Witherspoon notices this word as used in the following
exaniple:--"The members of a popular government should be continually
availed of the situation and condition of every part."-- Works, Vol. IV.
p. 296.

The newspapers sometimes say "an offer" (for instance) "was maid but not
availed of."

AVAILS. Profits, or proceeds. It is used in New England for the proceeds
of goods sold, or for rents, issues, or profits.--Webster.

Expecting to subsist on the bounty of government, rather than on the
avails of their own industry.--Stoddard's Louisiana.

It is used in other ports of the country in like manner.

AVERSE. On the use of this word, Mr. Pickering has the following remarks:
"American writers, till within some years

p. 17

past, generally employed the preposition to instead of from with this
adjective. Dr. Witherspoon thinks, that "as averse properly signifies
turned away, it seems an evident improvement to say averse from;" and the
Scottish writers generally seem to have preferred this. Dr. Campbell,
however, observes, that " the words averse and aversion are more properly
construed with to, than with from. The examples in favor of the latter
preposition, are, beyond comparison, outnumbered by those in favor of the
former. The argument from etymology is here of no value, being taken from
the use of another language. If, by the same rule, we were to regulate all
nouns and verbs of Latin original, our present syntax would be
overturned."--Campbell's Rhetoric. Dr. Webster remarks to the same effect.
Mr. Todd says many examples may be brought to show the prevalent use of
the word from in connection with averse, before Clarendon; but now the
usage of to prevails.

AWFUL, adj. 1. Disagreeable, detestable, ugly.

A word much used among the common people in New England, and not
unfrequently among those who are educated. The expression, "an awful-
looking woman," is as often heard as "an ugly woman."

The country people of the New England States make use of many quaint
expressions in their conversation. Everything that creates surprise is
awful with them: "what an awful wind! awful hole! awful hill! awful mouth!
awful nose!" &c.--Lambert's Travels in Canada and the U. S.

The practice of moving on the first day of May, with one-half the New-
Yorkers, is an awful custom.--Maj. Downing, May-day in N. Y.

AWFUL. Very great, excessive. This sense of the word is peculiar to the
West.

Pot-pie is the favorite dish, and woodsmen, sharp set are awful eaters.--
Carlton, The New Purchase, vol. I. p. 182.

It is even used in this sense adverbially, and with still greater
impropriety, like many other adjectives. Thus we not unfrequently hear
such expressions as "an awful cold day."

AWFULLY. Exceedingly, excessively.

The chimneys were awfully given to smoking.-- Carlton, New Purchase.

p. 18

We give an example of the same use of this word by a popular English
writer.

The Ottoman horseman, raised by his saddle to a great height above the
humble level of the back which he bestrides, and using an awfully sharp
hit, is able to lift the crest of his nag, &c.--Eöthen, p. 13.

TO AXE. (Ang. Sax. aesian, axian.) To ask.

This word is now considered a vulgarism; though, like many others under
the same censure, it is as old as the English language. Among the early
writers it was used the same as ask is now. In England it still exists in
the colloquial dialect of Norfolk and other counties. A true born
Londoner, says Pegge, in his Anecdotes of the English Language, always
axes questions, axes pardon, and at quadrilles, axes leave. In the United
States it is somewhat used by the vulgar.- -Forby's Vocabulary.

Richardson's Dic.
And Pilate axide him, art thou Kyng of Jewis? And Jhesus answeride and
seide to him, thou seist.--Wiclif, Trans of the Bible.

A poor lazar, upon a tide,

Came to the gate, and axed meate.--Gower, Con. Anc.

Margaret, Countess of Richmond and Derby, in a letter to her son, Henry
VII., concludes with--
As herty blessings as ye can axe of God.-- Lord Howard.

In the next reign, Dr. John Clarke writes to Cardinal Wolsey, and tells
him that--
The King axed after your grace's welfare.- -Pegge's Anecdote.

Day before yesterday, I went down to the Post Office, and ax'd the Post-
master if there was anything for me.--Maj. Jones's Courtship, p. 173.

I have often axed myself what sort of a gall that splendiferoos Lady of
the Lake of Scott's was.-- Sam Slick in Eng., ch. 30.



B.
TO KNOW b FROM A bull's foot. It is a common phrase to say, "He does not
know B from a bull's foot," meaning that a person is very illiterate, or
very ignorant. The term bull's foot is chosen merely for the sake of the
alliteration; as in the similar phrases, "He does not know B from a
broomstick;" or "B from a battledoor." It is a very old saying; Mr.
Halliwell finds it in one of the Dighy MSS.

p. 19

I know not an A from the wynd mylne,
Ne a B from a bole-foot, I trowe, ni thiself nother.
Archaic and Provincial Glossary.

BAA-LAMB. A pet term for a lamb in England and America.

BACHELOR'S BUTTON. (Lychnis sylvestris.) The common name of a flower,
supposed by country people to have some magical effect upon the fortunes
of love. It seems to have grown into a phrase for being unmarried, "to
wear bachelor's buttons," in which, probably, a quibble was intended.--
Nare's Glossary.

He wears Bachelor's Buttons, does he not?- -Heywood, Fair Maid.

BACK, is often used for ago; as in the phrase, "a little while back," i.e.
"a short time ago."

BACK AND FORTH. Backwards and forwards, applied to a person in walking,
as, "He was walking back and forth." A common expression in the familiar
language of New England.

BACKWOODS. The partially cleared forest region on the western frontier of
the United States, called also the back settlements. This part of the
country is regarded as the back part or rear of Anglo-American
civilization, which fronts on the Atlantic. It is rather curious that the
English word back has thus acquired the meaning of western, which it has
in several Oriental languages, and also in Irish.

BACKWOODSMAN. In the United States, an inhabitant of the forest on the
Western frontier.--Webster.

The project of transmuting the classes of American citizens and converting
sailors into backwoodsmen is not too monstrous for speculators to conceive
and desire.--Fisher Ames's Works, p.144.

I presume, ladies and gentlemen, it is your curiosity to hear the plain
uneducated backwoodsman in his home style.--Crockett's Tour, p.126.

TO BACK OUT. To retreat from a difficulty, to refuse to fulfil a promise
or engagement. A metaphor borrowed from the stables.

Mr. Bedinger, in his remarks in the House of Representatives on the
Mexican war, Jan. 25, 1848, said:
He regretted the bloodshed in Mexico, and wished it would stop. But, he
asked, would gentlemen be willing to back out, and forsake our rights? No,
no. No turning back. This great country must go ahead.

p. 20

The Whigs undertook to cut down the price of printing to a fair rate, but
at last backed out, and voted to pay the old prices.--N. Y. Tribune.

To all appearance, we are on the eve of a bloody contest, if not a
revolution. What will be the consequence? One or the other party must back
out, or no one can tell what will be the result.--Nat. Intelligencer.

BACK. Behind the Back. When a person is slandered in his absence, it is
said to be done behind his back, that is, in secret, or when his back is
turned. It is the same as backbiting.

Where behind a man's back

For though he praised, he fint some lacke.--Gower's Conf. A. 62.

BAD, for Ill, as, I feel very bad to-day; also, for much.

BAD BOX. To be in a bad box, is to be in a bad predicament.

I began to be afraid now I'd got into rather a bad box.--Maj. Downing.

BACON. To save one's bacon. A vulgar expression, meaning to save one's
flesh from injury, to preserve one's flesh from harm or from punishment.
We say also, to escape with whole skin. A very old phrase.

What frightens you thus, my good son? says the priest;

You murder'd, are sorry, and have been confest.

Oh, father! my sorrow will scarce save my bacon;

For 'twas not that I murder'd, but that I was taken.--Prior's Poems.

BAGGAGE. Literally, what is contained in a bag or bags. The clothing or
conveniences which a traveller carries with him on a journey. This word is
applied by us to the trunks, clothing, &c. of a traveller. The English now
use the less appropriate term luggage. Baggage was formerly used by them.

Having dispatched my baggage by water to Altdorf.--Coxe.
This is sometimes called more fully bag and baggage.
Seventeen members of Congress arrived to-day with their bag and baggage.--
Washington Paper.

BAGGING. A coarse linen cloth, chiefly manufactured in Kentucky, for
packing cotton in.

BAIL. (Fr. baille.) The handle of a pail, bucket, or kettle.-- Forby's
Glossary. A common word throughout New England.

TO BAIL, OR BALE. Literally, to lade out with a bail or bucket. A sailor's
term, applied to lading water from a boat.

p. 21

BALANCE. A mercantile word originally introduced into the ordinary
language of life by the southern people, but now common throughout the
United States, signifying the remainder of anything. The balance of money,
or the balance of an account, are terms well authorized and proper; but we
also frequently hear such expressions as the "balance of a speech;" "the
balance of the day was idly spent;" "a great many people assembled at the
church: a part got in, the balance remained without."

The yawl returned to the wreck, took ten or eleven persons and landed
them, and then went and got the balance from the floating cabin.--Albany
Journal, Jan. 7, 1846.

Most of the respectable inhabitants held commissions in the army or
government offices; the balance of the people kept little shops,
cultivated the ground, &c.--Williams's Florida, p.115.

BALDERDASH. Empty babble, nonsensical talk. The etymology of this word is
doubtful, for in no word do writers more widely differ. It seems to be
connected with the Icelandic bulder, "the prating of fools" (Jamieson);
and the Welsh ball dardd or ball dordd, "to babble, prate, or talk idly"
(Boucher). It is chiefly used in conversation.

They would no more live under the yoke of the sea, or have their heads
washed with his bubbly spurm or barber's balderdash.--Nashe.

Mine is such a drench of balderdash.--Beaumont and Fletcher.

Enough (the king) all balderdash!

I'll none of it! so cease the trash!--Reynard the Fox, p.24

BALLYHACK--Go to Ballyhack; a common expression in New England. I know not
its origin. It savors in sound, however, of the Emerald Isle.

You and Obed are here too.

Let Obed go to Ballyhack. Come along out.--Margaret, p. 55

TO BAMBOOZLE. To deceive; to impose upon; to confound.--Todd's Johnson. To
make a fool of any one; to humbug or impose upon him.-- Grose, Prov. Dic.

Mr. Todd calls it a cant word from bam, a cheat. It is provincial in
England, and is seldom heard here except at political meetings or in
familiar conversation.
After Nick had bamboozled about the money, John called for counters.--
Arbuthnot.

p. 22


All the people upon earth, excepting those two or three worthy gentlemen,
are imposed upon, cheated, babbled, abused, bamboozled!--Addison.

The New Yorkers have appointed Van Buren men as delegates to the Baltimore
convention. If the Calhoun men can abide such dictation without a wry
face, they deserve to be thus babbled and bamboozled.--Boston Atlas.

The fact is--we reiterate it with increased corroboration from
[accumulating] evidences--the fact is, the South are to be bamboozled upon
this subject of the tariff. Yes, sir, in the language of Col. Benton,
which in the Senate, on Clay's bank bill, he proved to be legitimate
English from Richardson's quarto Dictionary, "they are to be bamboozled,
sir- -the are to be bamboozled!"--Congressional Debates.

BANG. To beat, i. e. excel, to surpass. "This bangs all things."-- Ohio.

BANKER. A vessel employed in fishing on the banks of Newfoundland. "There
were employed in the fisheries 1232 vessels, viz. 584 to the Banks, 648 to
the Bay and Labrador; the Bankers may be put down at 36,540 tons."

The vessels that fish at the Labrador and Bay are not so valuable as the
bankers, more particularJy those from Maine, Connecticut and Rhode
Island.--J. Q. Adams on the Fisheries, p. 219.

BANKABLE. Receivable at a bank, as bills; or discountable as notes.--
Webster.

Among the great variety of bank notes which constitute our circulating
medium, many are below par, and consequently are not received at the
Banks. Those only, which are redeemed with specie or its equivalent, are
received at the Banks, and are of the class called bankable.

In New York, at auction sales, the auctioneer, in stating the conditions
of the sale, if for cash, invariably states, that the money must be
bankable; otherwise the purchaser would be likely to pay him in bank notes
below par.

BANK-BILL. A bank-note.

Neither Johnson nor the other lexicographers have the term bank- note,
though they all have bank-bill, which Johnson defines, "a note for money
laid up in a bank, at the sight of which the money is paid."

In the United States these are invariably called bank-bills, while in
England this term is obsolete, and bank-notes universally used.

p. 23

BANNOCK. (Gaelic, bonnach. Irish, boinneag.) In Scotland, a cake of
oatmeal baked on an iron plate.

Behind the door a bag of meal;

And in the kist was plenty

Of good hard cakes his mither bakes;

And bannocks were nae scanty.--Scotch Songs, II. 71.

In New England, cakes of Indian meal, fried in lard, are called bannocks.

BAR, for bear. The common pronunciation in certain parts of the Southern
and Western States.

BANQUETTE. The name for the side-walk in some of our Southern cities.

BARBECUE. A term used in the Southern States and in the West Indies, for
dressing a hog whole; which being split to the back-bone, is laid flat
upon a large gridiron, and roasted over a charcoal fire.--Johnson.
Webster.

Formerly it was customary to make a fire in a large hole in the ground,
lined with stones, and then to put the hog in whole and cover it up until
cooked.

Oldfield, with more than harpy throat endu'd,
Cries, "Lend me, gods, a whole hog barbecued."-- Pope.

TO BARK ONE'S SHINS. To knock the skin off the shins by stumbling or
striking against something.

Mr. Hortshorne calls this a very old metaphor, aud says is found in the
ancient popular poetry of Scotland.--Shropshire Glossary.

Berdiug her selffe to hym apace
She cryed him mercy then,
And pylled the barke even of hys face
With her commaundments ten.
Neist Sanderson fratch'd wid a hay-stack,
And Deavison fught wi' the whins;
Smith Leytle fell out wi' the cobbles,
And peel'd aw the bark off his shins.--Cumberland Ballads.

TO BARK OFF SQUIRRELS. A common way of killing squirrels among those who
are expert with the rifle, in the Western States, is to strike with the
ball the bark of the tree immediately beneath the squirrel; the concussion
produced

p. 24

by which, kills the animal instantly without mutilating it.--Audubon,
Ornithology, Vol. I. p. 294.

TO BARK UP THE WRONG TREE. A common expression at the West, denoting that
a person has mistaken his object, or is pursuing the wrong course to
obtain it. A metaphor of Western origin. In hunting, a dog drives a
squirrel or other game into a tree, where, by a constant barking, he
attracts its attention, until the hunter arrives. Sometimes the game
escapes, or the dog is deceived and barks up the wrong tree.

When people try to hunt (office) for themselves, ...... and seem to be
barking up the wrong sapling, I want to put them on the right trail.--
Crockett's Tour, p.205.

BARRACLADE. (Dutch barre kledeeren, cloths undressed or without a nap.) A
home-made woolen blanket without nap. This word is peculiar to New York
city, and those parts of the State settled by the Dutch.

BARN-DOOR FOWL. The common fowl; also so called in Scotland.-- Jamieson.

Never had there been such slauthering of capons, and fat geese, and barn-
door fowls.--Bride of Lammermoor.

BARRENS. Elevated lands, or plains upon which grow small trees, but never
timber. Pine barrens are common throughout the United States.

BASE. A game of hand-ball.

TO BASE. To lay the foundation of an argument. This word is not in the
English Dictionaries in this sense. We say, for example, "He bases his
arguments on these facts." It is used in good language both in England and
America.

The Washington correspondent of the N. Y. Journal of Commerce, in speaking
of a rumor that Mr. Pakenham had made overtures to our Government, says:
The rumor is based upon a very general belief that Mr. P. has instructions
of a discretionary kind to resume the negotiation.

We learn, that the revolution (in Mexico) is based upon the disavowal by
the late Mexican Congress of the treaties made with the Yucatecos by Santa
Anna.--New Orleans Picayune.

BAYOU. (French, boyau, a gulf.) In Louisiana, the outlet of a lake; a
channel for water.

p. 25

BARNBURNERS. The nickname of onc of the present divisions of the great
Democratic party, otherwise called the Young Democracy; the other is
called the Old Hunker.


The following editorial of the Ohio Union, a Democratic paper in
Cincinnati, will define the political sentiments of these parties:

There is one class of the Democratic party which seeks the retention of
power in the hands of a few--the direction of the disposition of offices
would if possible restrain the impulses of tho Democracy--would check its
progressive tendency--is unfavorable to, or fearful of, the extension of
the "area of freedom," and in fine, in the language of Alexander Hamilton,
would restrain "the amazing violence of the popular or democratic spirit."
Who would likewise prescribe a fixed rule for present and future, by which
the Democracy of every man should be judged, leaving no margin for honest
differences on minor points, and would proscribe all who do not fit the
dimensions of their intellect, feelings, and opinions, to the Procrustes
bed which they have made for them. This is the class which we denominate
"Old Hunkers."

There is another class, who would divide power among the many; would leave
it entirely where it belongs, with the masses the people--who would have
offices filled by men, taken from among the people, and not confined to
those who live by office and make politics a trade--who have sympathies
with the people, understand their interests aud feelings, and will seek to
have both satisified, while they honestly and faithfully discharge the
duties of their offices--who care less about the disposition of offices
than they do about the principles of Democracy and the measures and policy
of the Government--who desire always and continually the "extension of the
area of freedom"--who believe that the Democratic impulses are right and
should be obeyed, and not thwarted--who would admit to the ranks of
Democracy ALL who agree with us, upon the cardinal principles of Democracy
and upon the great national policy, now acted upon by the General
Government--who believe in and favor progress, and would not prescribe a
fixed rule in all minor matters for all time, but would adapt action to
the circumstances and exigencies which arise in the progression of events,
and to the rights and interests which accompany or result from that
progression and its cllanges. And finally, who have in their hearts "sworn
eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."
These we denominate "the young Democracy." This is progressive "Young
Democracy."

"OLD HUNKERS." We have been requested to give a definition of this term.
Party nicknames are not often logically justified; and we can only say
that that section of the late dominant party in this State (the
democratic) which claims to be the more radical, progressive, reformatory,
&c.

p. 26

bestowed the appellation "Old Hunker" on the other section to imdicate
that it was distinguished by opposite qualities from those claimed for
itself. We believe the title was also intended to indicate that those on
whom it was conferred had an appetite for a large hunk of "the spoils"--
though we never could discover that they were peculiar in that. On the
other band, the opposite school was termed Barnburners, in allusion to the
story of an old Dutchman who relieved himself of rats by burniug his barns
which they infested--just like exterminating all Banks and Corporations to
root out the abuses connected therewith. The fitness or unfitness of these
family terms of endearment is none of our business.--N. Y. Tribune.

They have gone into such depths of Barnburning Radicalism, that a large
portion of the rank and file are determined not to follow.-- Ibid.

BE (Ang. Sax. beo, 1st person sing. and 1st, 2d, aud 3d plur. See Rask's
Gram. p. 84), instead of am and are. Ex. Be you cold? Where be you going?
This use of this word is confined to uneducated people. It is common in
several of the provincial dialects of England. In the Bible it often occur
instead of are.

Let them shew the former things what they be, that we may consider them.--
Isaiah xli. 22.

BEAD. The bubbles which rise on a glass of wine or spirits, by which the
strength and quality of the article is known.

Deacon Penrose. Will the Parson taste a little of our New England rum? We
call it a prime article, and think it the very best we ever made.

Abel Wilcox. It has as handsome a bead as I ever saw; and we think it
possesses a flavor like the West Indies.

Parson Welles. Truly in the words of Scripture, we must say, "Give strong
drink to him that is ready to perish." We need something to make our faces
shine these dark times.--Margaret, p. 310.

Mr. Bagley broke three slim glasses in the attempt to raise a bead.--Drama
at Pokerville.

BEAKER. (Germ. becher, Dutch beker.) A tumbler. "This word," says Mr.
Pickering, "not many years ago was in common use in New England, as well
as in some other parts of the United States; but it is now seldom heard
except among old people." We derive it from our ancestors from Norfolk and
Suffolk counties, where it is still provincial. It is also used in the
north of England and in Scotland.--Jamieson. Forby.

And into pikes and musketeers,

Stamp'd beakers, cups, and porringers.--Butler's Hudibras.

p. 27

TO BE AMONG THE MISSING. To be absent, to leave, to run away.

There comes old David for my militia fine; I don't want to see him, and
think I will be among the missing.

BEAR, for bar. Connecticut and Virginia.

BEAR. A word to denote a certain description of stock-jobbers.-- Johnson.

The same term is used among the brokers and stock-jobbers of Wall street,
New York. Their plans of operation are as accurately described in the
annexed extract from Warton, as they can be at the present moment:

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

The stock speculators of Wall street are denominated Bull- backers or Bear-
traps, according to the nature of their operations. The first signifies
that they have bought stock largely and hold it; and the second, that they
have sold stock which they have not got, and trust to circumstances to be
able to supply it. The brokers themselves in these cases are called Bulls
and Bears.--A Walk in Wall Street, p. 80.

There has been a very important revolution made in the tactics of a
certain extensive operator in Wall street. The largest bull in the street
has become a bear, and the rank and file have been thrown into the
greatest confusion and left without a leader.-- N. Y. Herald.

Some of the operators (in Wall street, owing to the rise in stocks), who
were the strongest bears last week, are now roaring bulls.--Ibid.

An attack has recently been made upon the Reading Road in one of the city
papers, evidently suggested by the bears.--N. Y. Tribune, 1848.

p. 28

TO BEAR A HAND. A seaman's phrase. To be ready; to go to work; to assist.

BEAST. A common name for a horse in the Southern States.

TO BEAT. To excel, surpass in a contest. Thus we say, one racer or steamer
beats another.

Also, to overcome with astonishment, to surprise. We sometimes hear,
especially from the mouths of old people, such expressions as "I felt
beat," "I was quite beat," i. e. utterly astonished.

TO BEAT ALL HOLLOW. To surpass or overcome completely; thus, "Eclipse beat
Sir Henry all hollow." Also, to take wholly by surprise.

The number of ships in New York beat me all hollow, and looked for all the
world like a big clearing in the West, with the dead trees all standing.--
Crockett, Tour down East, p. 27.

This phrase seems to be common in England. There, however, they do not use
the word all, which invariably forms a part of it here.

The author of "The Diary of a Physician" beats Walter Scott hollow, in the
attempt which he describes his martyr-philosopher as making to correct La
Place.--London Athenæum, Dec. 6, 1845.

A late English traveller under the assumed name of Rubio, says:
I used to think the English might defy all creation for bad coffee; but
the Americans beat us hollow.--Travels in the United States.

BECASE, for because. A common vulgarism.

BED-SPREAD. In the interior parts of the country, the common name for a
bed-quilt, or coverlet.

BEE. An assemblage of people, generally neighbors, to unite their labors
for the benefit of one individual or family. The quilting-bees in the
interior of New England and New York, are attended by young women, who
assemble around the frame of a bed-quilt, and in one afternoon accomplish
more than one person could in weeks. Refreshments and beaux help to render
the meeting agreeable. Husking-bees, for husking corn, are held in barns,
which are made the occasion of much frolicking. In new countries, when a a
settler arrives, the neighboring farmers unite with their

p. 29

teams, cut the timber and build him a log-house in a single day; these are
termed raising-bees. Apple-bees are occasions when the neighbors assemble
to gather apples, or cut out them up for drying.

BEE-LINE. To take a bee-line, is to take the most direct or straight way
from one point to another. Bees in returning to their hives after having
loaded themselves with honey always fly back to the hive in a direct line.
For a further explanation see the phrase lining bees.

This road is one of nature's laying. It goes determinedly straight up and
straight down the hills, and in a "bee line" as we say.--Mrs. Clavers.

I acknowledge the corn, boys, that when I started my track warn't anything
like a bee-line;--the sweeten'd whiskey had made me powerful thick-
legged.--Robb, Squatter Life.

BEECH-LE-MAR. (Fr. biche de mer.) A kind of slug taken on the coast of
some of the South sea islands, where it is cured for the China trade.--See
Morel's Voyage.

BEING. (Also pronounced bein, been.) Pres. part. of the verb to be,
equivalent to because.

This word is noticed by Boucher, as much in use in the Middle States of
America, and as an idiom of the Western counties of England. It is also
heard among the illiterate in New England.

"I sent you no more peasen, been the rest would not leave suited you."--
Boucher's Glossary.

The mug cost 15d. when 'twas new, but bein it had an old crack in it, I
told her she needn't pay but a shilling for it.--Maj. Downing.

Bein' ye'll help Obed, I'll give ye the honey.--Margaret, p. 20.

BELITTLE. To make smaller; to lower in character.--Webster.

This word is but little used, either in conversation or in composition.
President Jefferson is the only writer of authority who has used it.--
Notes On Virginia.

I won't stand that, said Mr. Slick, I won't stay here and see you belittle
Uncle Sum for nothin'. He ain't worse than John Bull, arter all.--Sam
Slick in England, ch. 19.

BELLWORT. The popular name of plants of the genus Uvularia.

BENDER. In New York, a spree; a frolic. To go on a bender, is to go on a
spree.

Thus did Harry Whitmore address C. M---, when the[] met, the morning after
the trio had determined to go on a bender.-- Mysteries of N. York.

BENT GRASS. (Genus, agrostis.) The popular name in the Northern States for
a common grass, sometimes called red-top.

BERATE. To revile; to abuse in vile language.--Worcester.

This is a common word in New England, and is not in the English
glossaries. Mr. Worcester quotes Holland for his authority.

BESTOWMENT. 1. The act of giving gratuitously; a conferring.-- Webster.

This word, which is much used by our theological writers, is not in the
English dictionaries.

God the Father had committed the bestowment of the blessings purchased, to
his Son.--Edwards on Redemption.

If we consider the bestowment of gifts in this view.-- Chauncey, U. Lab. 2.
That which is conferred or given.--Webster.

They strengthened his hands by their liberal bestowments on him and his
family.--Christian Magazine, iii. 665.

The free and munificent bestowment of the Sovereign Judge.--Thodey.

Mr. Todd has bestowal in his edition of Johnson, but cites no authority
for its use. Dr. Webster thinks bestowment preferable on account of the
concurrence of the two vowels in bestowal.

BETTER, for more; as, "It is better than a year since we met."

BETTERMENTS. (Generally used in the plural number.) The improvements made
on new lands, by cultivation and the erection of buildings.-- Pickering's
Vocabulary.

"This word," adds Mr. Pickering, "was first used in the State of Vermont,
but it has for a long time been common in the State of New Hampshire; and
it has been getting into use in some parts of Massachusetts, since the
passing of the late law, similar to the Betterments Acts (as they are
called) of the States above mentioned. It is not to be found in Mr.
Webster's, nor in any of the English dictionaries that I have seen except
Ash's; and there it is called 'a bad word.' It is thus noticed by an
English traveller in this country, in speak-

p. 31

ing of those people who enter upon new lands without any right and proceed
to cultivate them:

These men demand either to be left owners of the soil or paid for their
betterments, that is, for what they have done towards clearing the
ground.--Kendall, Travels in the United States, Vol. III p. 160.

BETTERMOST. The best. Used in New England.

The bettermost cow, an expression we do not find in Shakspeare or Milton.--
Mrs. Kirkland.

BETTY. (Ital. boccetta.) A pear-shaped bottle wound around with straw in
which olive oil is brought from Italy. Called by chemists a Florence
flask.

B'HOYS. i.e. Boys, a name applied to a class of noisy young men of the
lower ranks of society in the city of New York.

The New York Commercial Advertiser, April 12, 1847, in speaking of the
approaching election, uses the following language:
All the b'hoys will vote, aye, more than all. Let every Whig do his duty.
Another year with a Democratic Mayor--and such a Mayor as the b'hoys would
force upon the city! Who can tell what the taxes will be?

BIDDY. A domestic fowl; a chicken. A term generally used in calling fowls
to eat.

BIBLE CHRISTIANS. The Philadelphia Mercury thus gives a summary of the
creed of this new sect: "This denomination abstain from all animal food
and spirituous liquors, and live on vegetables and fruits. They maintain
the unity of God, the divinity of Jesus, and the salvation of man,
attainable only by a life of obedience to the light manifested to his mind
and a grateful acknowledgment of his indebtedness to the great Giver of
all. The congregation numbers about seventy members."

BIG-BUGS. People of consequence.

Then we'll go to the Lord's house--I don't mean to the meetin' house, but
where the nobles meet, pick out the big-bugs, and see what sort o' stuff
they're made of.--Sam Slick in England, ch. 24.

These preachers dress like big-bugs, and go ridin' about on hundred-dollar
horses, a-spungin' poor priest-ridden folks, and a-eaten chicken-fixens so
powerful fast that chickens has got scarce in these diggins.--Carlton's
New Purchase, Vol. II p. 140.

BIG-WIGS. People of consequence. The same as the last.

Demagogues and place-hunters make the people stare by telling them how big
they talked and what great things they did to the big-wigs to home.--Sam
Slick.

p. 32

BIG FIGURE. To do things on the big figure, means to do them on a large
scale. This vulgar phrase is used at the West and South.

Well, I glory in her spunk, but it's monstrous expensive and unpleasant to
do things on the big figure that she's on now.--Maj. Jones's Courtship.

BILBERRY, (genus vaccinium.) The popular name of a shrub of several
species, and bearing fruit resembling the whortle berry.

BIME-BY. By-and-by, soon, in a short time.

BINDWEED. The popular name in Massachusetts for the convolvulus.- -
Bigelow's Flora.

BINDERY. A place where books are bound.--Webster.

The Penny Cyclopedia thinks this a new, but not a bad word.

BISHOP. An appendage to a lady's wardrobe, otherwise called a bustle.

BIT, past part. of the verb bite. Cheated, taken in. In Yorkshire,
England, a cheat is called a bite. Dr. Johnson notices this vulgarism.

Asleep and naked as an Indian lay,
An honest factor stole a gem away;
He pledg'd it to the Knight; the Knight had wit,
So kept the diamond, and the rogue was bit.- -Pope.

A BIT. A little; a little while. As "wait a bit;" "after a bit."

BIT. (Span. pieza.) The name in the Southern States of silver coin of the
value of one-eighth of a dollar. The Spanish real (de plata).

BITTER COLD. Very cold. This common colloquial expression is used alike in
England and America.

Those who say it is a very easy tiring to get up of a cold morning, .....
ought to stand around one's bed of a bitter cold morning, and lie before
their faces.--Leigh Hunt. The Indicator, p. 134.

BITTERS. A liquid or spirituous liquor, containing an infusion of bitter
herbs and roots.--Worcester.

Bitters, before the temperance reform, were much in fashion, taken before
breakfast to give an appetite. The custom

p. 33

is now confined to the back parts of the country, or to professed
tipplers.

What was that I saw you taking for your bitters, a little while ago?--
Cooper, Satanstoe, p.68.

BITTERSWEET. (Solanum dulcamara.) The popular name of a medicinal plant,
which has a place in most dispensatories. It is also called the Woody
Nightshade.--Big. Flora.

BLACK. To look black at one, to look at one with anger or deep resentment
depicted on the countenance.

BLACK AND BLUE. The color of a bruise; a familiar expression for a bruise,
here and in England.

Mistress Ford, good heart, is beaten black and blue, that you cannot see a
white spot about her.--Shakspeare, Merry Wives of Windsor.

And, wingd with speed and fury, flew
To rescue Knight from black and blue.- -Hudibras.

BLACK AND WHITE. To put a thing into black and white, is, to commit it to
writing. In use in Scotland.--Jamieson.

I was last Tuesday to wait on Sir Robert Walpole, who desired that I would
put it in black and white, that he might show it to his Majesty.--Culloden
Papers, p. 108.

BLACK-BOOK. A book was kept in the English monasteries, during the reign
of Henry VIII., in which details of the scandalous enormities practised in
religious houses were entered for the inspection of visitors, in order to
blacken them and hasten their dissolution. Hence the vulgar phrase, "I'll
set you down in my black-book.

BLACK-LEG. The common term here and in England for a gambler.

BLACK-MAIL. Formerly, money paid to men allied with robbers to be
protected by them from being robbed.--Cowell. In the United States it
means money extorted from persons under the threat of exposure in print,
for an alleged offence, or defect.

BLACKSTRAP. Gin and molasses. The English sailors call the common wines of
the Mediterranean blackstrap.--Falconer's Marine Dictionary.

Come, Molly, dear, no black-strap to-night, switchel or ginger pop.--
Margaret, p. 300.

BLACK WOOD. Hemlock, pine, spruce, and fir.--Maine.

p. 34

BLADDER-TREE (genus straphylea). A handsome shrub, from six to ten feet
high, remarkable for its large inflated capsules.--Bigelow's Flora
Bostoniensis.

BLADDER-WORT. (Utricularia vulgaris). The popular name of an aquatic
plant, appearing above water only with its stalk and flowers.-- Ibid.

BLAME. A euphemistic evasion of the horrible word damn. Ex. "Blame me,"
or, "I'll be blamed, if;" also, "You be blamed!"

It is used both in England and in the United States, chiefly in New
England.

I wasn't goin' to let Dean know; because he'd have thought himself so
bland and cunning.--Mrs. Clavers's Western Clearings, p. 70.

BLARNEY. Marvellous stories, flattery. Ex. He deals in the wonderful, he
is full of blarney. Grose derives this word from the Blarney stone, a
triangular stone on the very top of an ancient castle of that name in the
county of Cork, in Ireland, extremely difficult of access; so that to have
ascended it, was a proof of perseverance, courage, and agility, whereof
many are supposed to claim the honor who never achieved the adventure.
Hence, in England, they say, "He has licked the Blarney stone," i. e. he
deals in the wonderful.--Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Dr. Jamieson doubts the Irish origin of this word, and adopts the French
etymon baliverne, a lie, a fib, gull; also, a babbling, idle discourse.--
Cotgrave, Dictionary.

BLATHER. Impudence. "None of your blather."--Western.

BLATHERSKITE. A blustering, noisy, talkative fellow.--Western.

BLAUSER. The name given by the Dutch settlers to the hog-nosed snake, from
its habit of distending or blowing up the skin of its neck and head. The
other popular names in New York are Deaf-adder and Buckwheat-nosed.-- Nat.
Hist. of New York.

BLAZE. In traversing the dense forests of the West, a person would soon
lose his way and find it difficult to retrace his steps without some land-
mark. This is effected by cutting a

p. 35

piece out of the side of trees at a sufficient distance from each other to
enable the traveller readily to discover them and thus follow the direct
path or road. Such a mark is called a blaze, and trees thus marked are
said to be blazed.

Three blazes in a perpendicular line on th same tree indicating a
legislative road, the single blaze, a settlement or neighbourhood road.--
Carlton, The New Purchase.

After traversing a broad marsh, however, where my horse seemed loth to
venture, I struck a burr-oak opening, and soon found my way by the blazed
trees back to the mail trail.--Hoffman, Winter in the West.

TO BLAZE AWAY. To keep up a discharge of fire-arms. A good English phrase.

The hunter (of the west) attacks the oldest and largest bull he can find,
and continues to blaze away at him with pistols, until he brings him
down.--Kendall's Santa Fé, Vol. I. p. 79.

BLAZES. Like blazes, that is, furiously.--Moor's Suffolk Words.

As they cut away, the company
Stil kep upon the glare;
An' when comin' in, the hosses ded
Along like blazes tear.--Poem in Essex Dialect, p. 21.

This expression is common in low language with us. At the South it seems
to be used as a euphemism for devil, etc.

I've been serving my country like a patriot, goin' to town-meetings,
hurraing my daylights out, and getting as blue as blazes.--J. C. Neal.

All the hair was off his head, and his face was as black as the very old
blazes.--Chron. of Pineville, p. 49.

BLAZING STAR. (Aletris farinosa.) A plant, the root of which is greatly
esteemed by the Indians and people of the West for its medicinal virtues.
It is also called star- oo [sic] and devil's hit.--Flint's Mississippi
Valley.

TO BLINK. To shut the eyes, to wink. Hence, to shun, to avoid, shy at, as
some animals avoid an alarming object, at the same time shutting their
eyes so as not to see it. The leathern flaps on a horse's bridle, over the
eyes, are called blinkers. We use the verb in a metaphorical sense of
avoiding or flinching from delicate topics. Thus we say, "He blinks

p. 36

the question," that is, he shuns the true point of the argument.

It's no use to blink matters. The skunk was been abroad, and he must have
a blunt nose that can't wind him.-- Crockett's Tour, p. 107.

BLIZZARD. A poser. This word is not known in the Eastern States.

A gentleman at dinner asked me for a toast, and supposing he meant to have
some fun at my expense, I concluded to go ahead, and give him and his
likes a blizzard.--Crockett's Tour, p. 16.

BLOCK. A term applied in America to a square mass of houses included
between four streets. It is a very useful one.

BLOCK-HOUSE. A small fort built of logs which project some six or eight
feet over a wooden or stone foundation, fifteen or twenty feet high.

BLOUSE. (Fr. blouse.) A loose garment made of brown linen, fastened round
the waist with a belt; worn by men and boys in France, and lately
introduced partially into this country.

TO BLOW. To taunt; to ridicule.

TO BLOW. To turn informer on an accomplice.

BLOW. A gale of wind. Ex. A heavy blow! originallv a seaman's word, but
now come into general use.

BLOW OUT. A feast; also called a tuck out. Both expressions are English as
well as American.

TO BLOW OVER. Said properly of a storm; and hence generally, to pass away
without effect. This metaphor is very common. We say, there is a great
excitement about a certain matter; but it will blow over, i. e. pass away.

Storms, though they blow over at divers times, may yet fall at last.--
Bacon's Essays.

A storm is brewing in the political horizon, which may defeat our
candidate; but it will soon blow over.--Newspapers of the day.

BLOW-UP. A quarrel; a dispute. A common expression, used in familiar
conversation.

There was a regular blow-up at Tammany hall, between the friends of Mr.
Van Buren and Mr. Calhoun, which ended in a row, and broke up the
meeting.--Newspapers of the day.

TO BLOW UP. To scold, to abuse, either in speaking or

p. 37

writing. A vulgar expression borrowed from sailor's language.

Oh ho! I see, it's a piece about the major's book. I suppose somebody's
been blowin' him up, and he ain't used to it.-- Maj. Jones's Courtship.

I thought I could stand a blowing up pretty well--I have had some
experience in that way, as the old woman's tongue can testify.- -Pickings
from the Picayune, p. 121.

He was ravin' about the disputed territory, a blowin' up the governor of
New Brunswick sky-high.--Sam Slick, 3d ser. chap. vii.

BLUE. Gloomy, severe; extreme, ultra.

In the former sense it is applied especially to the Presbyterians, to
denote their severe and mortified appearance. Thus, beneath an old
portrait of the seventeenth century, in the Woodburn Gallery, is the
following inscription:

A true blue Priest, a Lincey Woolsey Brother,
One legg a pulpit, holds a tub the other;
An Orthodox grave, moderate Presbyterian,
Half surplice cloake, half Priest, half Puritan.
Made up of all these halfes, hee cannot pass
For anything entirely but an ass.

In the latter sense it is used particularly in politics.
The bluest description of old Van Rensselaer Federalists have followed
Col. Prentiss (in Otsego county).--N. Y. Tribune.

BLUE. A synonym in the tippler's vocabulary for drunk.

BLUE-BERRY. (Vacinium tenellum.) A fruit resembling the whortleberry in
appearance and taste.

TO LOOK BLUE AT ONE, is to look at one with a countenance expressive of
displeasure or dissatisfaction.

The Bishop would not cease to rate,
Were I to give the church's blessing
To any fold of her transgressing:
Besides, the provost would look blue.--Reynard the Fox, p. 124.

BLUE-BOOK. A printed book containing the names of all the persons holding
office under the Government of the United States, with the amount of their
pay. It answers to the Red-Book of England.

BLUE DEVILS. To have the blue devils is to be dispirited.

BLUE LAWS. "Where, and how, the story of the New Haven Blue Laws
originated, is a matter of some curiosity. Accord-

p. 38

ing to Dr. Peters, the epithet blue was applied to the laws of New Haven,
by the neighboring colonies, because these laws were thought peculiarly
sanguinary: and he says, that blue is equivalent to bloody. It is a
sufficient refutation of this account of the matter, to say, that if there
was any distinction between the colony of New Haven, and the other united
Colonies of New England, in the severity of iheir punishments, New Haven
was the last of the number to gain this bad pre-eminence. Others have
said, that certain laws of New Haven, of a more private and domestic kind,
were bound in a blue cover; and hence the name. This explanation has as
little probability as the preceding, for its support. It is well known,
that on the restoration of Charles II. the Puritans became the subject of
every kind of reproach and contumely. Not only what was deserving of
censure in their deportment, but their morality was especially held up to
scorn. The epithet blue was applied to any one, who looked with
disapprobation on the licentiousness of the times. The Presbyterians,
under which name all dissenters were often included, as they still dared
to be the advocates of decency, were more particularly designated by this
term; their religion and their morality being marked by it as mean and
contemptible. Thus Butler:

For his religion, it was fit
To match his learning and his wit;
'Twas Presbyterian true blue.--Hudib. Canto I.

"That this epithet of derision should find its way to the colonies was a
matter of course. It was here applied not only to persons, but to customs,
institutions, and laws of the Puritans, by those who wished to render the
prevailing system ridiculous. Hence probably a belief with some, that a
distinct system of laws, known as the 'blue laws,' must have somewhere a
local habitation."--Prof Kingsley's Hist. Disc.

BLUE-NOSE. The slang name for a native of Nova Scotia.

"Pray, sir," said one of my fellow passengers, "can you tell me why the
Nova Scotians are called 'Blue Noses?'"

"It is the name of a potatoe," said I, "which they produce in great
perfection, and boast to be the best in the world. The Americans have, in
consequence, given them the nick-name of Blue-noses."--Sam Slick.

p. 39

After a run (in the steamer) of fourteen days, we entered the harbor of
Halifax, amid the hearty cheers of a large number of Blue-noses.--Sir
George Simpson's Overland Journey, Vol. I. p. 19.

THE BLUES. A euphemism for blue devils. To have a fit of the blues, is to
have a fit of the blue devils, to be low-spirited.

BLUE-SKINS. A nickname applied to the Presbyterians, from their alleged
grave deportment.

BLUE STOCKING. The American avoset (recurvirostra Americana). A common
bird in the Northern States.--Nat. Hist. New York.

BLUE STOCKING. A ridiculous epithet applied here as well as in England to
literary ladies, and borrowed from that gallant nation the French. Called
also simply a blue.

BLUFF. A high bank, almost perpendicular, projecting into the sea.--
Falconer's Marine Dic.

In America it is applied to a high bank, presenting a steep front, in the
interior of the country.

Here you have the advantage of mountain, bluff, interval, to set off the
view.--Margaret, p. 282.

BLUFF. Steep, bold; as a hill.

Its banks, if not really steep, had a bluff and precipitous aspect from
the tall forest that girded it about.-- Margaret, p. 7.

TO BLUFF OFF. To put on a troublesome questioner, or dun, &c.

BLUMACHIES. (Dutch.) This Dutch word for flowers is still preserved in the
New York markets.

TO BLURT OUT. To speak inadvertently, and without reflection.

They blush if they blurt out, are well aware
A swan is white, or Queenshury is fair.--Young.

Mr. Pickens, in explaining that his report was a peaceable one, blurted
out the whole character and conduct of his countrymen.- -Lord Sydenham's
Memoirs, p. 307.

(This matter) is only fit to be talked on over a cigar alone. It don't
answer a good purpose to blurt everything out.--Sam Slick in England.

BLUSTERATION. The noise of a braggart.--Brockett's North County Words.
Used among us only in low colloquial language.

p. 40

BOATABLE. Navigable for boats, or small river-craft.--Webster.

This useful word has only recently been adopted in the English
dictionaries.

The Seneca Indians say, they can walk four times a day from the boatable
waters of the Allegany, to those of the Tioga.--Morse's Geography.

This word, says Dr. Webster, though of modern origin, is well formed
according to the English analogies, like fordable, creditable, &c. The
advantage of using it is obvious, as it expresses an important distinction
in the capacity of water to bear vessels. Navigable is a term of which
boatable is the species; and as the use of it saves a circumlocution,
instead of being proscribed, it should be received as a real improvement.--
Letter to J. Pickering on his Vocabulary, p. 6.

The objection to this word is, that it is a hybrid, composed of a Saxon
noun and a Latin ending. It is like fordable, but not like creditable,
which is all Latin. We would hardly use the word trustable.

BOATING. Transporting in boats.--Webster.

BOB. A knot of worms on a string used in fishing for eels.-- Webster.

TO BOB. To fish for eels with a bob. This word is common in New England,
and is used in the same sense in England.

These are the baits they bob with.-- Beaumont and Fletcher.

BOBBERY. A squabble, a row; common both in England and America.-- Moor,
Forby.

That woke up the confounded rooks from their first nap, and kick'd up such
a bobbery.--Sam Slick in England, ch. 2.

I've been writing to Aunt Keziah, ahout the bobbery you New Yorkers always
get into ahout the first of May.--Maj. Downing.

BOBOLINK. The popular name of the rice-bunting (icterus), a bird which
frequents the wild rice and marshes; on Long Island it is called the rice
bird. In other places it is called the skunk-blackbird.

It sticks to me like a bobolink on a saplin, in a wood.--Margaret, p. 87.

BOB-SLED. A sled prepared for the transportation of large timber from the
forest to a river or public road.--Maine.

p. 41

BOBTAIL. (From bob, in the sense of cut). Cut tail, short tail.--Johnson.

Avaunt, you curs!
Be thy mouth or black or white,
Or bobtail tike, or trundle tail,
Tom will make him weep or wail.--Shakspeare, King Lear.

BOCKEY.--A bowl or vessel made from a gourd. A term probably derived from
the Dutch, as it is peculiar to the city of New York and its vicinity.

BOCKING. A kind of baize, or woollen cloth, either plain or stamped with
colored figures, used to cover floors or to protect carpets. It is also
called floorcloth.

BODETTE. (Fr. beaudette.) In Canada the common name for a cot-bedstead.

BODY.--A person. A colloquial expression used both in England and America.

Good may come out of evil, and a body's life may be saved, without having
any obligations to his preserver.-- L'Estrange.

This hot weather makes a body feel odd. How long would a body be going to
Washington? How the mosquitoes bite a body.--Davis, Travels in America in
1798, p. 223.

BOG-TROTTER. One that lives in a boggy country. A derisive epithet applied
to Irishmen.

BOGUS. A liquor made of rum and molasses.

BOGUS MONEY. Counterfeit silver coin. A few years since, a large quantity
of this coin was in circulation at the West, where it received this name.

TO BOLT. To swallow food without chewing.--Forby.

Often my dame and I at home
Eat rav'nously of honey comb;
For lack of more substantial food,
We bolt this down, and call it good.--Reynard the Fox, p. 26.

TO BOLT. To start off suddenly in any direction. It is said in the first
place of a horse starting from his course; and is then transferred to
persons. Thus:

In she come, bolting into our room.--Maj. Downing, p. 54.

It is also applied especially to politicians who suddenly desert their
party.

p. 42

Mr. Poindexter has bolted from the Whigs, and united with the Democratic
party for the war and the whole of Mexico.-- Newspaper.

BOLT-UPRIGHT. Perfectly upright.--Johnson. Used alike in England and the
United States.

As I stood bolt-upright upon one end, one of the two ladies burst out.--
Addison.

In the mean time, Shadrach stood bolt-upright, with his hands crossed
before him, his nose elevated to the ceiling, and his eyes shut.--
Paulding's Koningsmarke, ch. v.

BOOM ALONG. To move rapidly. A sea term. A ship is said to boom along when
under full sail.

You're right in the way; and if you don't boom along, we'll have to play
clearance with you.--J. C. Neal's Sketches.

TO MAKE NO BONES OF. To do a thing without hesitation. A metaphor borrowed
from eating with dispatch as if it contained no bones.

Knowing (according to the old rule of Thales) that he who had not stuck at
one villanie, will easily swallow another; perjury will easily down with
him that hath made no bones of murther.--Bp. Hall.

BONESET. (Eupatorium perfoliatum). The popular name of a medicinal plant.
Its properties are sudorific and tonic.

BONNY-CLAPPER.}
BONNY-CLABBER.} (Irish, baine, milk, and clabar, mire.)

An Irish term for sour buttermilk.--Nares' Glossary.
We scorn for want of talk, to jabber
Of parties o'er our bonny-clabber;
Nor are we studious to inquire,
Who votes for manors, who for hire.--Swift.

BOO! BOH! An exclamation of terror among children. To one who is timid, it
is common to say, "You dare not say boo to a goose."

I dare not, for the honor of our house.
Say boh to any Grecian goose.--Homer Travestied.

(The old squatter Jones) was awful. He could jest lick anything that said
boo in them diggins, out swar Satan, and was as cross as a she bar with
cubs.--Robb, Squatter Life.

TO BOO-HOO. To cry loudly.

The little woman boo-hoo'd right out, threw herself incontinently full on
hi breast, hung around his neck, and went on in a surprising way for such
a mere artificial as an actress.--Field, Drama in Pokerville.

p. 43

TO BOOSE. To tipple.

BOOSY. Fuddled; a little intoxicated. A low word, only used colloquially,
and alike common to England and America.

With a long legend of romantic things
Which in his cups, the bouzy poet sings.-- Dryden.

BOOSILY. Lazily, in a state of intoxication.

In the sun before the house, lay Mr. Tapley, boosily sleeping with his
bare head pillowed on a scythe-snathe.-- Margaret, p. 214.

TO BOOST. To lift or raise by pushing.--Webster.

Chiefly used by boys, who apply it to the act of pushing one another up a
tree or over a fence. "Boost me up this tree, and I'll hook you some
apples."

He clambered back into the box (in the theatre), the manager assisting to
boost him with the most friendly solicitude.-- Field, Drama in Pokerville.

TO BOOT. (Ang. Sax. to-bote.) In addition; over and above; that which is
given to make the exchange equal.--Johnson.

Man is God~s image; but a poor man is Christ's stamp to boot: both images
regard.--Herbert.

He might have his mind and manners formed, and be instructed to boot in
several sciences.--Locke.

BOOTEE, dimin. of boot. A boot without a top, or a shoe made like a boot
without a leg.

BO-PEEP--To play at bo-peep. To peep out suddenly from a hiding place, and
cry bo! a children's game.

They then for sudden joy did weep,

And I for sorrow sung,
That such a king should play bo-peep,

And go the fools among.--Shakspeare.

There the devil plays at bo-peep, puts out his horns to do mischief, then
shrinks them back for safety.-- Dryden.

TO BORE. Used as a metaphor. To tease by ceaseless repetition; like the
unvaried continued action of a borer.--Richardson.

Buc. I read in 's looks
Matter against me, and his eyes revil'd
Me as his abject object; at this instant
He bores me with some tricks.--Shakspeare.

BORE. A tiresome person or unwelcome visitor, who makes himself obnoxious
by his disagreeable manners, or by a repetition of visits.

p. 44

BORN DAYS. One's life-time ever since one was born; a vulgar expression
used in various parts of the country. It is also used in the same sense in
England.--Craven Glossary.

In a' my born days, I never saw sic a rascal.--Carr's Craven.

An expression nearly similar is used by Froissart:
I know not in all my lyfe days how to deserve it.
Odswinge! this is brave! canny Comberland, oh
In aw my born days see a sight I ne'er saw.--Westm. and Cum. Poems.

I never seed such a sight in all my born days. Heaven and earth! thinks I,
where could they come from?--Maj. Jones's Courtship, p.39.

Where have you been all your born days, not to know better than that?--Sam
Slick in England, ch. ii.

Bime-by the General begun to let off steam, and such a whizzin' you never
heard in your born days.--Maj. Downing's Letters, p. 200.

The more (the schoolmaster) read the advertisement, the more he was
astonished at the rashest set of temerity he had ever witnessed in his
born days.--Knickerbocker Mag. vol. xvii. p. 33.

NOT BORN IN THE WOODS TO BE SCARED BY AN OWL. Too much used to danger, or
threats, to be easily frightened.

I just puts my finger to my nose, and winks, as much as to say, "I aint
such a cursed fool as you take me to be!" Guess he found that was no go;
for I warn't born in the woods to be scared by an owl.--Sam Slick.

BORN WITH A SILVER SPOON IN HIS MOUTH. To inherit a fortune by birth.

Mr. Hood, in his History of Miss Kilmansegg, says
She was one of those, by Fortune's boon, who
Are born, as they say, with a silver spoon
In her mouth, not a wooden ladle;

BOSS. (Dutch, baas. Danish, bas, a master.) A master, an employer of
mechanics or laborers. It probably originated in New York, and is now used
in many parts of the United States. The blacks often employ it in
addressing white men in the Northern States, as they do massa (master) in
the Southern States.

BOSS. (Lat. bos.) Among the hunters of the prairies, a name for the
buffalo.

BOSSY. A familiar name applied to a calf.

BOTHER. Trouble, confusion.

p. 45

BOTTOM. Low land with a rich soil formed by alluvial deposits, and
formerly the bottom or bed of a stream or lake. This is an old use of the
word. Dr. Johnson defines it, a dale; a valley; a low ground.

He stood among the myrtle-trees that were in the bottom.--Zech. i. 8.

In the purleius stands a sheep-cote, west of this place, down in the
neighboring bottom.--Shakspeare.

On both shores of that fruitful bottom, are still to be seen the marks of
ancient edifices.--Addison on Italy.

Both the bottoms and the high grounds are alternately divided into wood
lands and prairies.--Stoddard's Louisiana, p. 213.

BOTTOM-LANDS. In the Western States, this name is given to the rich flat
land on the banks of rivers, which in New England is generally called
interval land, or simply interval.--Pickering's Vocab. Webster.

Our sleigh, after winding for some time among this broken ground, and
passing over one or two small but beautiful pieces of bottom land among
the ravines, readied at last the top of the bluff.--Hoffman.

BOUGHTEN. Which is bought. This is a common word in the interior of New
England and New York. It is applied to articles purchased from the shops,
to distinguish them from similar articles of home manufacture. Many
farmers make their own sugar from the maple-tree, and their coffee from
barley or rye. West lndia sugar or coffee are then called boughten sugar,
etc. This is a home-made carpet; that a boughten one, or one of foreign
manufacture, bought at a shop.

BOUNCING. Large, heavy. Often applied, in familiar language, as in the
phrase, "a bouncing girl."

TO BOUGE. (Old Fr. bouge, swelling.--Cotgrave). To swell out, to bulge.
This old word is noticed by Dr. Johnson. It is nearly obsolete in England,
but is preserved in the interior of New England.

When the sun gets in one inch, it is ten o'clock; when it reaches the
stone that bouges out there, it is dinner time.-- Margaret, p. 6.

BOWIE-KNIFE. (Pron. boo-ee). A knife from ten to fifteen inches long and
about two inches broad, so named after its inventor, Colonel Bowie. They
are worn as weapons by persons in the South-western States only, and
concealed in

p. 46

the back part of the coat. No gentleman at the North thinks it necessary
to wear such a weapon.

BOW-DARK TREE. (Fr. bois d'arc.) A western tree, the wood of which is used
to make bows with.

BRACK. (Goth. braka. Ang. Sax. bracan, to break.) A breach, a broken
part.--Johnson.

Mr. Pickering says, "This old English word is still used in some parts of
New England, where it is applied to a break or flaw in a piece of cloth."

It is to be found in old authors and is still provincial in England.
Let not a brack i' th' stuff, or here and there
The fading gloss, a general loss appear.--Beaumont and Fletcher.

BRAKE. The common name for fern. In Sweden the female fern is called
bracken. In the north of England it is called brackens.--Brockett's North
County Words.

It is a common saying in the Northern States, on the opening of spring, If
you break the first brake, and kill the first snake, you will go through
all you undertake.

BRAKE. A lever used for stopping cars on railways.

BRAKEMAN. The man whose business it is to stop cars on railways, by
pressing a lever against the wheels.

BRAND-NEW.}
BRAN-NEW.} (Teut. brand new.) Quite new.

This word is provincial in the North of England, and is used in colloquial
language in other parts, as well as in the United States. Mr. Todd
suggests whether the expression may not have been originally brent-new, or
bren-new, from the Saxon brennan, to burn, equivalent in meaning to fire-
new, i. e., anything new from the forge; hence the secondary sense, just
finished, quite new. The Dutch expression is explained by Kilian by vier-
new.--Forby- -Brockett.

Dr. Jamieson calls this a Scottish word.

---- Waes me, I hae forgot,
With hast of coming off; to fetch my coat.
What shall I do? It was almaist brand new;
'Tis but a hellier since't came off the clew.--Ross's Helenore, p. 53.

BRASH. Brittle. In New England this word is used in speak-

p. 47

ing of wood or timber that is brittle. In New York it is often heard in
the markets, applied to vegetables. Ex. "These radishes are brash," i. e.
brittle. In many parts of England, twigs are called brash.

Although this word is not used in the same sense in England, it seems to
be properly derived from the Dutch braash, brittle. Brashy, in the north
of England, means, delicate in constitution.-- Brockett's Glossary.

BRAVELY. Excellently. The adjective brave was formerly used in the sense
of excellent; as it still is, for instance, in German and French. It has
now lost this meaning; but we continue to use the adverb in such phrases
as "Templeton sang bravely," "The sick man is now doing bravely."

BREACHY. A term applied to unruly oxen in New England, particularly to
such as break down fences or through inclosures. It is provincial in the
South of England in the same sense.--Halliwell's Arch. and Prov. Dic.

BREAD-STUFF. Bread-corn, meal, or flour; bread.--Webster. Pickering.

This very useful word is American. Mr. Pickering says, "It was first used
in some of the official papers of our government, soon after the adoption
of the present Constitution. . . . . . It has probably been more readily
allowed among us, because we do not, like the English, use the word corn
as a general name for all sorts of grain, but apply it almost exclusively
to Indian corn or maize." He cites the following authorities":
The artices of exports . . . . . . are bread- stuffs, that is to say,
bread-grains, meals, and bread. Report of the Secretary of State (Mr.
Jefferson) on Commercial Restrictions, Dec. 16, 1793.

One great objection to the conduct of Britain, was her prohibitory duty on
the importation of bread-stuff, &c.--Marshall, Life of Washington, Vol. V.
p. 519.

In Jamaica, the term bread-kind is applied to esculent roots, &c.
substituted for bread.

BREAD-ROOT. (Psoralea esculenta.) A plant resembling the beet in form,
which is found near the Rocky mountains, sometimes growing from twenty to
thirty inches in circumfer-

p. 48

ence. It contains a white pulpy substance, sweet and palatable.-- Scenes
in the Rocky Mountains, p. 50.

TO BREAK UP LAND. To plough up land that has lain long as a meadow, is the
sense as understood in the United States. In England, according to Grose,
land that has long lain fallow or in sheep-walks, is so called during the
first year after the alteration.

Where peasen ye had, and a fallow thereon,
Sow wheat ye may well, without dung thereupon:
New broken up land, or with water opprest,
Or overmuch dunged, for wheat is not best.--Tasser, Husbandry.

BRICKLEY, for brittle. Used in Georgia.--Sherwood's Gazetteer.

TO BRIDGE. To build a bridge, or bridges; as, 'to bridge a river.'--
Webster.

Mr. Todd, in his edition of Johnson's Dictionary, says this unusual word
was thought to be peculiar to Milton, who some supposed coined it; but
that he has foung it in Sherwood's Dictionary of 1632, with the
explanation, "that hath a bridge over it."

Xerxes, the liberty of Greece to yoke,
From Susa, like Memnonian palace high,
Came to the sea; and, over Hellespont
Bridging his way, Europe with Asia joined.--Milton, Par. Lost.

Here a road is formed by causeys of logs; or, in the language of the
country, it is bridged.--Kendall's Travels in the United States.

BRIEF. Rife; common; prevalent. This word is much used by the uneducated
in the interior of New England, when speaking of epidemic diseases. Mr.
Halliwell, in his Provincial Dictionary, says, it is used in the same
sense in England, and denotes the quickness with which the contagion
spreads. Brief is also used when speaking of diseases in Virginia. It is
not in any English dictionary except Bailey's, in which it is defined as
'common, rife.'

BRIGHT. Ingenious; possessing an active mind.--Webster.

This is a common use of the word in the United States. Neither Johnson nor
Todd gives this definition of it. Two of their definitions are,
"illuminated with science; sparkling

p. 49

with wit." We say, a bright child, but would not say that Newton or Bacon
was bright, for the term does not express enough to be applied to those
great minds. In poetry, how ever, it does well enough, even when applied
to one of these great philosophers.

If parts allure thee, think how Bacon shin'd,
The wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind.--Pope.

TO BRISK UP. To come up with life and speed; to take an erect or bold
attitude.--Webster. An Americanism.

BROADBILL. (Anas menlo.) The common name of a wild duck, which appears on
our coast in large numbers in October. On the Chesapeake it is called
Black-head; and in Virginia, Raft-duck.--Nat. History of New York.

BROGANS.}
BROGUES.} The first word is used in the United States, to distinguish a
heavy, coarse shoe, between a boot and a shoe. In England coarse or wooden
shoes are called brogues. When filled with nails they are called clouted
brogues.--Nare's Glossary.

I thought he slept,
And put my clouted brogues from off my feet, whose rudeness
Answer'd my steps too loud.--Cymbeline, IV. 2.

BROOM-CORN. (Sorghum saccharatum.) A species of corn which grows fiom six
to eight feet high, from the tufts of which brooms are made.

BROTHER-CHIP. A fellow-carpenter; in a more general sense, a person of the
same trade.

BROTHER JONATHAN.--The origin of this term, as applied to the United
States, is given in a recent number of the Norwich Courier. The Editor
says it was communicated by a gentleman now upwards of eighty years of
age, who was an active participator in the scenes of the Revolution. The
story is as follows:

When General Washington, after being appointed commander of the army of
the Revoluntionary war, came to Massachusetts to organize it and make
preparations for the defence of the country, he found a great want of
ammunition and other means necessary to meet the powerful foe he had to
contend with, and great difficulty to obtain them. If attacked in such con-

p. 50

dition, the cause at once might be hopeless. On one occasion at that
anxious period, a consultation of the officers and others was had, when it
seemed no way could be devised to make such preparation as was necessary.
His Excellency, Jonathan Trumbull the elder, was then Governor of the
State of Connecticut, on whose judgment and aid the General placed the
greatest reliance, and remarked, "We must consult 'Brother Jonathan' on
the subject." The General did so, and the Governor was successful in
supplying many of the wants of the army. When difficulties afterwards
arose, and the army was spread over the country, it became a by-word, "We
must consult Brother Jonathan." The term Yankee is still applied to a
portion, but "Brother Jonathan" has now become a designation of the whole
country, as John Bull has for England.

BROWN STUDY. Deep thought; absence of mind. "He is in a brown study," i.e.
in deep thought, or intent upon his book.

The adjective is here used in a metaphorical sense; brown being considered
a dull, sober color. Comp. art. Blue.
Why, how now, sister, in a motley mouse?
* * * * * * * *
Faith, this brown study suits not with your black,
Your habit and your thoughts are of two colors.--Ben Jonson.

They live retired, and they doze away their time in drowsiness and brown
studies; or, if brisk and active, they lay themselves out wholly in making
common-places.--Norris.

BROWN THRASHER. (Ferruginous thrush. Audubon Ornith.) The popular name of
the brown thrush. It is also called the ground mocking-bird.--Nat. History
of New York.

I love the city as dearly as a brown thrasher loves the green tree that
sheltered its young.--C. Mathews, Works, p. 125.

BRUSH. A skirmish, or fight.--Johnson. Grose.

It could not be possible, that, upon so little a brush as Walter had
sustained, he could not be able to follow and disturb the king.--Corcoran.

TO BRUSH UP. To prepare oneself; to take courage.

When Miss Mary came, I brushed up, and was determined to have a rite
serious talk with her, not knowin but she mought be captivated by some of
them Macon fellers.--Major Jones's Courtship.

BUBBLER. A fish found in all the waters of the Ohio. Its name is derived
from the singular grunting noise which it makes, a noise which is familiar
to every one who has been much on the Ohio.--Flint's Mississippi Valley.

p. 51

BUCK-EYE. In the Western States, the people of each are known by certain
nicknames. The natives of Ohio are called Buck-eyes.

TO BUCKLE-TO. To set about any task with energy and a determination to
effect the object. It probably comes from harnessing or buckling to a
carriage, the horses, before starting. In Scotland, buckle to means to
join in marriage.--Jamieson.

I have no objeutions. said the schoolmaster, to sing you a psalm tune,
since you are anxious to hear it; but after that you must buckle-to, and
stick to the elements.--Knickerbocker Mag. Vol. XVII. p. 87.

BUCKRA. A white man. A term universally applied to white men by the blacks
of the African coast, the West Indies and the Southern States. In the
language of the Calabar coast, buckra means devil; not, however, in the
sense we apply to it, but that of a demon, a powerful and superior being.
The term swanga buckra, often used by the blacks, means, an elegantly
dressed white man, or dandy. I am indebted to the Rev. J. L. Wilson, who
is familiar with the African language alluded to, for the etymology of
this word.

Which country you like best? Buckra country very good, plenty for yam
(food), plenty for bamboo (clothing). Buckra man book larn. Buckra man
rise early--he like a cold morning; nigger no like cold.--Carmichael's
West Indies, Vol. 1. p. 311.

BUCKTAIL. The name of a political party in the State of New York, which
sprung up about the year 1815. Its origin is thus described bv Mr.
Hammond: "There was an order of the Tammany Society who wore in their hats
as an insignia, on certain occasions, a portion of the tail of the deer.
They were a leading order, and from this circumstance the friends of De
Witt Clinton gave those who adopted the views of the members of the
Tammany Society, in relation to him, the name of Bucktails; which name was
eventually applied to their friends and supporters in the country. Hence
the party opposed to the administration of Mr. Clinton, were for a long
time called the "BUCKTAIL PARTY."--Polit. Hist of New York, Vol. I p. 450.

p. 52

BUCKWHEAT. A species of grain (genus polygonor), the flour of which is
much used in the United States.

An etymology of this word has been suggested to me by a friend, which, as
it is new, deserves mention. The Saxon for beech is boc, Dutch, bock. The
mast or nut of the beech is of the same form and color as the grain of the
buckwheat; hence we have the Dutch bock weyt, beech-wheat, and English
buckwheat, or wheat resembling the buck or beech nut.

BUFFALO. A sort of fresh-water fish, resembling the sheep's head, found in
the Mississippi.

BUFFALO CHIPS. The dry dung of the buffalo, used for fuel on the prairies.

Wood is now very scarce, but "buffalo chips" are excellent--they kindle
quick and retain heat surprisingly. We have this evening buffalo steaks
broiled upon them that had the same flavor they would have had on hickory
coals.--Letter from a California Emigrant.

BUFFALO GRASS. A species of short grass from two to four inches high,
covering the boundless prairies on which the buffaloes feed. A remarkable
characteristic of some varieties of this grass, is that "the blade, killed
by the frost of winter, is resuscitated in the spring, and gradually
becomes green from the root up, without casting its stubble or emitting
new shoots."--Scenes in the Rocky Mountains, p. 287.

BUFFALO-ROBE. The skin of the buffalo, dressed for use.

BUG. In the United States coleopterous insects are invariably called bugs;
thus May bug, June bug, golden bug, &c. In England they are called
beetles, and the word but is restricted to the species found in bedding.

BUGGY. A light waggon for one horse.

Lend me a hundred and buy yourself a buggy,-- why don't you get a buggy,
to begin with?--J. C. Neal's Sketches.

BUGLE-WEED. (Lycopus Virginicus.) A plant which has much reputation for
its medicinal properties. It is also known as the Virginian Water-
horehound.

BULGER. Large.--Western term.

We soon came in sight of New York and a bulger of a place it is.--
Crockett, p. 37.

p. 53

BUILD UP. To erect; and metaphorically to establish, to found.

In this manner it was thought we should sooner 'build up a settlement,' as
the phrase goes. In America, the reader should know, everything is built.
The priest builds up a flock; the speculator, a fortune; the lawyer a
reputation; and the landlord, a settlement.--Cooper, Satanstoe.

Mr. R. has never done anything, to the Courier and Enquirer to make them
hunt him down or cast ridicule on him, while endeavoring to build up for
himself, no unsullied character among his fellow-men.--N. Y. Tribune, 1848.

BULL. A stock exchange term for one who buys stock on speculation for
time, i. e. agrees with the seller, called a bear, to take a certain sum
of stock at a future day, at a stated price; if at that day stock fetches
more than the price agreed on, he receives the difference; if it falls or
is cheaper, he either pays it, or becomes a "lame duck." This description
of a bull from Grose's Slang Dictionary, corresponds precisely with the
bulls of Wall street, who speculate in stocks in the same manner. See Lame
Duck and Bear, the names of other classes who figure in the stock
exchange.

There was a sauve qui peut movement to-day in the Stock Market, and the
clique of bulls finding it impossible to stem the rush, gave up the
attempt to stem the market and let things go down with a run. . . . Such a
state of the market as is now exhibited, is nearly as bad for the bears as
the bulls.--N. Y. Tribune, Dec. 10, 1845.

There is something of a panic in Wall street, and the bulls fare hard.--N.
Y. Journal of Commerce, Dec. 10, 1845.

It is usual for the brokers to collect in Wall street, sometimes in such
numbers as to obstruct the way. This led to a petition to the board of
aldermen complaining of
"An encumbrance upon the sidewalks, for that every week-day morning,
between 9 and 11, certain bulls and hears do congregate upon the sidewalk,
on the northerly side of Wall street nearly opposite Hanover street, in
such numbers as entirely to obstruct the way of foot passengers, so that
they are compelled to take the middle of the street, or cross over to the
walk on the opposite side." The prayer is, "that the nuisance may be
abated." Ald. Dod moved to lay the memorial on the table. Ald. McElrath
said that the petition was very respectably signed, and trusted it would
receive a respectful consideration: the petitioners were serious, asked
the removal of an obstruction, and used the terms well known.--N. Y.
Tribune, 1847.

BULL'S EYES, n. A coarse sweetmeat mixed with flour, and

p. 54

streaked various colors, greedily devoured by children.--Hartshorne's
Shropshire Glossary.

The same word is used here.

BUMBLE-BEE. The wild bee; also called the humble bee. In Yorkshire,
England, to bumble means to make a humming noise.--Dr. Willan, in
Archæologia, Vol. XVII.

Chaucer uses the verb bumble to describe the noise made by the bittern.

BUNCOME,}
BUMKUM.} Judge Halliburton of Nova Scotia, thus explains this very useful
and expressive word, which is ]iow as well understood as any word in our
language:

"----All over America, every place likes to hear of its members of
Congress, and see their speeches; and if they don't, they send a piece to
the paper, enquirin' if their member died a natural death, or was skivered
with a bowie knife, for they hante seen his speeches lately, and his
friends are anxious to know his fate. Our free and enlightened citizens
don't approbate silent members; it don't seem to them as if Squashville,
or Punkinsville, or Lumbertown was right represented, unless Squashville,
or Punkinsville, or Lumbertown makes itself heard and known, ay, and
feared too. So every feller in bounden duty, talks, and talks big too, and
the smaller the State, the louder, bigger, and fiercer its members talk.

"Well, when a critter talks for talk sake, jist to have a speech in the
paper to send to home, and not for any other airthly puppus but
electioneering, our folks call it Bunkum. Now the State of Maine is a
great place for Bunkum--its members for years threatened to run foul of
England, with all steam on, and sink her about the boundary line; voted a
million of dollers, payable in pine logs and spruce boards, up to Bangor
mills; and called out a hundred thousand militia (only they never come),
to captur a saw mill to New Brunswick. That's Bunkum--all that flourish
about Right o' Search was Bunkum--all that brag about hangin' your Canada
sheriff was Bunkum--all the speeches about the Caroline, and Creole, and
Right of Sarch, was Bunkum. In short,

p. 55

almost all that's said in Congress, in the Colonies, (for we set the
fashions to them, as Paris gals do to our milliners,) and all over
America, is Bunkum.

"Well, they talk Bunkum here, too, as well as there. Slavery speeches are
all Bunkum; so are reform speeches, too," etc.

The origin of the phrase, as I have read it, is somehow so: A tedious
speaker in Congress being interrupted and told it was no use to go on, for
the members were all leaving the house, replied, "Never mind; I'm talking
to Buncombe." Buncombe, in North Carolina, was the place he represented.
Washington is the theatre of the worst passions in our nature: chicanery
lurks within the cabinet, distrust and envy without, while fawning
sycophancy environs it round about. To sum it up, it is a little of
government--a great deal of bumcum, sprinkled with a high seasoning of
political juggling, with but one end and aim--the spoils of Uncle Sam.--
Robb, Squatter Life, p. 17.

BUNK. (Ang. Sax. beuc. Germ. bank. Danish, baenk, a bench, a form.) A
wooden case used in country taverns and in offices which serves alike for
a seat during the day and for a bed at night. They are common throughout
the Northern States.

Dr. Jamieson has the word bunker, a bench, or sort of low chests that
serve for seats--also, a seat in a window, which serves for a chest,
opening with a hinged lid.--Etym. Dict. Scottish Language.

Ithers frae off the bunkers sank,
We e'en like the collops scor'd.--Ramsay's Poems, Vol. I. p. 280.

In some parts of Scotland a bunker or bunkart, which Dr. Jamieson thinks
to be the same word, means an earthen seat in the fields. In the North of
England, a seat in front of a house, made of stones or sods, is called a
bink.

BUNK. A piece of wood placed on a lumberman's sled to enable it to sustain
the end of heavy pieces of timber.--Maine.

BUNGTOWN-COPPER. The old English half-penny, or copper. So called in
various parts of New England.

These flowers wouldn't fetch a bungtown copper.--Margaret, p. 19.

TO BUNDLE. Mr. Grose thus describes this custom:

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"A man and woman lying on the same bed with their clothes on; an expedient
practised in America on a scarcity of beds, where, on such occasions,
husbands and parents frequently permitted travellers to bundle with their
wives and daughters."--Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Bundling is said to be practised in Wales. Whatever may have been the
custom in former times, I do not think bundling is now practised in the
United States.

Mr. Masson describes a similar custom in Central Asia:

"Many of the Afghan tribes have a custom in wooing, similar to what in
Wales is known as bundling-up, and which they term namzat bazé. The lover
presents himself at the house of his betrothed with a suitable gift, and
in return is allowed to pass the night with her, on the understanding that
innocent endearments are not to be exceeded.--Journeys in Balochistan,
Afghanistan, &c. Vol. III. p. 287.

TO BUNT. To push with horns; to butt. This word is given by Webster, but
is not in the English dictionaries. Mr. Hartsborne notices this word in
his Shropshire Glossary.

BURGALOO. A kind of pear.

BURGOO. A seafaring dish made with oat meal and water, seasoned with salt,
butter, and sugar.--Falconer's Marine Diet.

BURNT HIS FINGERS. When a person has suffered loss by a speculation, he is
said to have burnt his fingers. It is used in the same sense in England.

We were sick of speculation in cotton. We had burnt our fingers once with
the article, and would not try it again.--Peils of Pearl Street, p. 165.

BURR-STONE. A species of silex or quartz occurring in morphous masses,
partly compact, but containing many irregular cavities. It is used for
mill-stones.--Cleveland's Mineralogy.

BUSHWHACKER. A raw countryman, a green-horn.

Do you think all our eastern dignitaries combined could have compelled
young bushwhackers to wear coats and shoes in recitation rooms.--Carlton's
New Purchase, Vol. II. p. 87.

BUSS. A kiss. This word, once of sufficient dignity to be

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used by our dramatic authors, has now become so obsolete as to be heard
only from the vulgar.

Come, grin on me; and I will think tou smil'st,
And buss thee as my wife --Shakspeare, K. John, iii. 4.
Kissing and bussing differ both in this,
We buss our wantons, but our wives we kiss.--Herrick's Works, p. 219.

TO BUST. To burst; to fail in business.

Simple persons who have been smarter or earlier in the field of fortune
will burst up some fine morning, and leave the road open to others.--
Blackwood's Mag. April, 1847, p. 498.

I was soon fotch'd up in the victualling line--and I busted for the
benefit of my creditors.--J. C. Neal, Dolly Jones.

BUSTER. Anything large in size; a man of great strength. A common
vulgarism, which appears to be of foreign origin.

Dr. Jamieson, in his Scottish Dictionary, has the word bustuous, busteous,
huge, large in size; also, strong, powerful; which is the same meaning
usually understood by our vulgar word buster.

---- The same time sendis sche
Down to the folkis at the cost of the se,
Twenty fed oxin, large, grete, and fyne,
And one hundreth busteous boukes of swyne.--Douglas, Virgil, 33, 8.

We sometimes hear this word applied to a gale of wind, as, "This is a
buster," i. e. a powerful or heavy wind. In the old Scottish poems there
are examples of a similar use of the word.

That terrible trumpet, I hear tel,
Beis hard in Ileavin, in eirth and hel;
Those that were drownit in the sey,
That busteous blast they sal obey.--Lindsay's Works, 1592, p. 167.

The Icelandic bostra, great noise, seems to be analagous to the word.

BUSTER, or bust. A frolic, a spree. "They were on a buster, and were taken
up by the police."

BUSTLE. A pad stuffed with cotton, feathers, bran, &c., worn by ladies for
the double purpose of giving a greater rotundity or prominence to the
hips, and setting off the smallness of the waist.

Some of the ladies had bustles on that would have literally throwed the

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whiskers, and the thing that wore them, entirely in the shade. I never
knowed what a bustle was before. Would you be1ieve it, Mr. Thompson, that
I saw bustles up to Athens, that, if they'd been made out of real flesh
and blood, would broke the back of any gall in Georgia to carry 'em? It's
a fact. Why, some of them looked jist as much out of proportion as a
bundle of fodder does tied to the handle of a pitchfork. If anything would
make me sue for a divorce, it would be to see my wife toting about sich a
monstrous pack on her back as some of them I saw up to Athens.--Maj.
Jones's Courtship, p. 168.

BUTTE. (French.) This word is of frequent occurrence in books that relate
to the Rocky Mountain and Oregon regions, "where," says Col. Frémont, "it
is naturalized, and if desirable to render into English, there is no word
which would be its precise equivalent. It is applied to the detached hills
and ridges which rise abruptly, and reach too high to be called hills or
ridges, and not high enough to he called mountains. Knob, as applied in
the Western States, is their most descriptive term in English; but no
translation or paraphrasis would preserve the identity of these
picturesque land-marks."--Exped. to the Rocky Mountains, p. 145.

Sir Geo. Simpson in his "Overland Journey round the World," when
traversing the Red River country, west of Hudson's Bay, speaks of a
conspicuous land-mark in the sea of plains, known as the Butte aux Chiens,
... towering with a height of about four hundred feet over a boundless
prairie as level and smooth as a pond.--Vol. I. p. 54.

BUTTER-CUP. The flower of the ranunculus ficarius. It seems to have
obtained its name from a vulgar error, that butter is improved in flavor
anti color by cows eating this plant; though it is well known that they
avoid it, on account of its acrid taste.--Craven Glossary.

BUTTERNUT. (Lat. Juglans cinerea.) Also called the oil-nut. The tree
resembles the black walnut.

BUTTONING UP. A Wall street phrase. When a broker has bought stock on
speculation and it falls suddenly on his hands, whereby he is a loser, he
keeps the matter to himself and is reluctant to confess the ownership of a
share. This is called buttoning up.--A Walk in Wall Street, p. 47.

BUTTON BUSH. (Cephalanthus occidentalis.) A shrub which

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grows along the water side, its insulated thickets furnishing a safe
retreat for the nests of the black-bird. Its flowers appear at a distance
like the balls of the sycamore tree; hence its name.--Bigelow's Flora
Bostoniensis.

BUTTON WOOD. (Platanus occidentalis.) The popular name in New England of
the sycamore tree; so called from the halls it hears, the receptacle of
the seeds, which remain on the trees during the winter.-- Michaux's Sylva.

BY THE BYE. To Mr. Richardson we are indebted for a fuller examination of
this phrase, than other lexicographers have given it. In this expression
the latter bye seems to be the same bye as in by-law, &c., and of course
to admit a similar explanation. In Lord Bacon; "there is upon the by to be
noted," that is, upon the way, in passing, indirectly, this being a
collateral and not the main object of pursuit. In Ben Jonson; "those who
have saluted poetry on the by;" on their way, in passing; poetry being the
collateral and not the direct or main object of their pursuit. By the bye
then is by the way, in passing, such being a collateral and not a main
object.--Richardson, Dictionary.

BY THE SKIN OF ONE'S TEETH. When a man has made a narrow escape from any
dilemma, it is a common remark to say, that he has saved himself 'by the
skin of his teeth.'

BY-BIDDER. A person employed at public auctions to bid on articles put up
for sale, in order to obtain higher prices. In New York city also called
Peter Funks, which see.

BY GOSH! An inoffensive oath, used mostly in New England. Negroes often
say, By Golly!

BY GUM! The same as the preceding. It is also noticed by Moor in his
Suffolk Glossary.

BY GOOD RIGHTS. By right, by strict justice; as, "By good rights Mr. Clay
ought to be President of the United States," meaning that be is entitled
to it by right, or by justice, and for the services he has rendered his
country.