March 1, 1886.] 



KNO^VLEDGE 



161 



Blaze. To blaze trees is to cut a mark on them, show- 

 ing brightly at a distance. 



Blazes. Equivalent to Sheol. Words beginning with 

 " Bl " seem in favour for strong language. Hence pro- 

 bably the alxsurd " Blue Blazes. " and our vulgar English 

 "Bloody" and "Blasted." (Mr. Max O'Rell's '"By'r 

 Lady " for " bloody " is simple nonsense.) Also Blow it, 

 Blast it, &c. It would be interesting to compare scien- 

 tifically the relief derived respectively from Blame, 

 Blank, Bloody, ic, on the one hand, and Damn, Deuce 

 take it, and Darn it, on the other. 



Bli-zard. A particularly biting wind. Also a poser. 

 Block. A set of houses enclosed rectangularly between 

 four streets. 



Bloomer. A term applied to costume devised by Mrs. 

 Bloomer, — a short gown, reaching a little below the 

 knees, and pantalettes. 



Blow. To boast loudlj-. " I guess, old man, j-ou re 

 blowing." — Artem us Wanl. 



Blue. Till all's. An amazing expression, generally 

 applied to drinking. " We'll drink till all's blue."' I 

 know of no jjhysiological explanation of the expression. 



Blue Fish. A large kind of mackerel. The "blue fish 

 wriggling on a hook " was the first American fish I be- 

 came — vocally — acquainted with, thanksto Mrs. Florence, 

 somewhere about 1856. 



Blue grass. The grass growing on the rich limestone 

 land of Kentucky and Tennessee. But in the " Hoosier 

 Schoolmaster," the scene of which is laid in Indiana, we 

 read of " the blue grass pastur"." 



Blue Xose. A K'ova Scotian, so-named, says Sam Slick, 

 from the blue nose potato, which the Nova Scotian rears 

 in perfection. I would wager a cent, were I a betting 

 man — a cent in America or a farthing in England — that 

 the Xova Scotians were called "blue noses" before the 

 potato which they rear was so named. I guess — after 

 living four years in America I may guess — the name 

 referred to the blueness of nose resultinar from intense cold. 

 Blue nil. A bullet. 



Bluff. Yerb. To bet on a worthless hand. This is 

 regarded as a creditable achievement at the noble game of 

 poker. Outside that game, it is generally known as lying. 

 Board round. To lodge in succession in different 

 families. School teachers were welcomed in this fa.shion 

 formei-ly, and perhaps are still boarded in this casual, and 

 (I should imagine) most unpleasant way. 



Bogus. Equivalent to our English Brummagem. The 

 term has been described as a corruption of Borghese, the 

 name of a man who forged bills half a centui'y or so ago. 

 The explanation seems doubtful, — a bogus explanation in 

 fact. 



Boiled shirt — or more frequently Biled Bag, a clean 

 shirt : a singularly graceful expression. 



Bolt. Verb. To bolt a candidate is to omit to vote for 

 him. 



Bonanza. Spanish. A big scheme, by which (honestly 

 or otherwise) much money is made. 



Boodle. (Fr. Botel ; Germ. Beiitel ; our EngWsh Bottle 

 is of similar origin.) A set or lot. The " whole boodle," 

 the whole lot. Somewhat emphatically contemptuous. 

 Boost. To hoist. Old English. 



Boss. (Dutch Baas.) A master or overseer. As an 

 adjective " boss " means " biggest." 



Bottom Dollar. The lowest dollar of a heap set beside 

 the gambler wherewith to back his luck. "You may bet 

 your bottom dollar," is equivalent to "you may go your 

 whole pile" (of dollars). One of the elegant offshoots of 

 American gambling. 



Bound. Meaning "sure," also "resolved."' 



Bourbon. Whisky from Bourbon county, Kentucky; 

 the best whisky I know. (If you know any better, then 

 — candidus imperti ; si non, his utere mecitm.') Also, a 

 term applied to Democrats. 



Bo.v Car. A close car, used to convey furniture by rail. 

 Boij. In the south this word usually means a coloured 

 male servant. 



Brainij. A man who shows brain power. 

 Breakdomi. A riotous dance, closing a ball. 

 Britishers. Americans say that this word is purely 

 British, no American being ever heard to apply it to 

 Englishmen. Bartlett says in his " Dictionary of Ameri- 

 canisms" "We never heard an American call an English- 

 man a Britisher." Curious ! I had not been in America 

 ten days, before I had heard many Americans speak 

 of Englishmen as Britishers — generally, as " blarsted 

 Britishers." Oddly enough. Englishmen lay themselves 

 open to similar contradiction, when they assert that this 

 word "blast "with its derivations " blasted, blastedly, 

 &c.," is much oftener heard in America than in England. 

 Xo one but a blackguard in England ever uses the word ; 

 but in America they are so fully assured that every 

 Englishman is always "blasting " that they use it freely. 

 So "with "bloody "; it is a familiar word with English 

 costermongers, but no respectable Englishman ever uses 

 it : now it is thought nothing wonderful for an American 

 lady to speak of "crying bloody murder," or of "raw- 

 head and bloody bones," at which her English cousin, 

 unless of low grade, cannot help .shuddering. 



Broncho. A native California horse, of somewhat lively 

 type. 



Brother Jonathan. A term originally derived from a 

 saying of Washington's about Governor Jonathan Trum- 

 bull of Connecticut. " "We must consult Brother Jona- 

 than about this," said Washington on one occasion ; and 

 this became a byword. Few Americans are christened 

 Jonathan, perhaps, but just as Englishmen are called 

 John Bull, so Americans aae called and call themselves 

 Brother Jonathan. 



Broughtens iqi. Bringing up. A credit to his 

 " broughtens up." 



Brung. diggers say " brung " for brought. It is 

 necessary to add that white folk occasionally use this 

 elegant form, by way of joke (verj- mild). 



Buch. A buck nigger is a full-grown black man. 

 Buckeye. Ohio men are called Buckeyes. Ohio is the 

 Bucl-ege'State, so named from the Buckeye Tree ^schZms 

 glabia, which grows freely in Ohio. 

 Bucl-ra. A white man. Nigger talk. 

 Buffalo. The American Bison. Also the bison's skin, 

 or buffalo robe. They tell absurd stories of Englishmen 

 who, hearing of a " bufl"alo " when a drive has been in 

 preparation, have imagined that a bison was to be 

 harnessed. 



Buffalo Walloir. A depression in the praii-ies caused 

 by rains. Bisons delight to roll in these hollows, which 

 are therefore (!) called buffalo wallows. 



Bug. Americans use this woi-d more freely than 

 Englishmen, — not limiting it, as we do, to Cimex 

 lectujariws — all insects are bugs in America. 



Build. To build a fire in America is to make one. 

 Bulge. On the. On a big spree, (this perhaps is 

 exY)laining obscurum. per obscvrius') : to get horribly drunk 

 in the company of unpleasant people, with fighting, fol- 

 lowed by a days sickness and several days' discomfort. 



Bnlld'ose. To bully. BuUdose was originally equivalent 

 — so they say — to cowhide, — somewhat as a man who is 

 bullied is apt to be cowed. 



Bullion State. The State of Missouri. (A former 



