Исторический английский фразеологический словарь

Aye-Vye. An animal found in Madagascar, so called from its cry.

Aylesbury Street. From the town house and garden of the Earls of Aylesbury.

Azores. The Portuguese named this group of islands Acores, the plural of acor, hawk, on account of the great number of hawks there.

Azov. A Russianised form of Asak, the name given to it by the Tartars.

B

Bacchanalia. Roman festivals in honour of Bacchus, the god of wine.

Bacchus Verses. Verses written in praise or dispraise of Bacchus, and affixed to the doors of the College at Eton on “Collop Monday.”

Bachelor Girl. One who lives in her own rooms, belongs to a woman’s club, and considers herself superior to what is called home influence–a distinctly modern creation.

Backgammon. From the Saxon Bac and gamen, “back-game,” because the pieces have at times to go back and be moved up afresh.

22Back a Man. To have full confidence in him. From backing or endorsing a bill on another’s behalf.

Badajoz. Called by the Moors Beledaix, “Land of Health.”

Bad Egg. A man who is commercially or morally unsound, and therefore fit only to be shunned.

Badger State. Wisconsin, from the name given to the early miners, who made for themselves winter habitations in the earth, like a badger.

Badminton. A drink of spiced claret, and also a game of tennis played with shuttlecocks instead of balls, introduced by the Duke of Beaufort at Badminton, his country seat.

Baffin’s Bay. After William Baffin, the pilot of an expedition sent out to explore this region in 1616.

Bagatelle. From the Italian bagetella, a conjurer’s trick.

Baggage. A term often applied to a woman, because the wives of soldiers taken on foreign service go with the stores and baggage generally. In the United States this word is an equivalent for the English “Luggage.”

Bagman. The old name for a commercial traveller, who carried his samples in a bag.

Bag o’ Nails. A popular corruption of the ancient inn sign, “The Bachannals,” referring to Pan and the Satyrs.

Bag o’ Tricks. In allusion to the large bag in which an itinerant conjurer carried his tricks.

Bakers’ Dozen. In olden times, when bread was sold in open market instead of shops, women took up the trade of selling bread from door to door. They received from the bakers thirteen loaves for the price of twelve, the odd one constituting their profit.

Baker Street. After Sir Edward Baker, a great friend of the Portmans of Dorsetshire, the ground landlords.

Bakshish. A Persian word for “gratuity.”

Balaklava. When settled by the Genoese, they gave it the name of Bella-chiava, or “Fair Haven.”

23Balearic Islands. From the Greek ballein, to throw, expresses the Island of Slingers.

Ball. A dancing party received this name primarily from the curious ancient Ball Play in Church by the Dean and choir boys of Naples during the “Feast of Fools” at Easter. While singing an antiphon the boys caught the ball thrown by the Dean as they danced around him. At private dancing parties the dancers always threw a ball at one another as, to the sound of their own voices, they whirled around in sets, the pastime consisting in loosening hands in time to catch it. Afterwards the ball was discarded, but the dance time received the name of a Ballad, from the Latin ballare, to dance.

Ballad. See “Ball.”

Ballet. Expresses the French diminutive of bal, a dance. See “Ball.”

Ball’s Pond. From an inn, the “Salutation,” kept by John Ball, whose dog and duck sports in a large pond attracted a great concourse of visitors in former days.

Balsover Street. From Balsover, Derbyshire, the seat of the Fitzroys, Dukes of Grafton, the ground landlords.

Baltic Sea. A sea of belts or straits. B?lt is Norse for strait.

Baltimore. After Lord Baltimore, the founder of the neighbouring state of Maryland.

Baltimore Bird. Though found almost everywhere in the United States, it is said to have received its name from the correspondence of its colours with those distinguished in the arms of Lord Baltimore, the Governor of Maryland.

Bancroft Road. After Francis Bancroft, the founder of the Drapers’ Almshouses, in this road.

Bandana. The Hindu term for silk goods generally, but now applied to cotton pocket-handkerchiefs with white or yellow spots on a blue ground.

Bandy Words with You. From the old game of Bandy, in 24which the ball was struck or bandied to opposite sides.

Bangor. From Ban-choir, “The White Choir” of the Abbey, founded by St Cungall in the sixth century.

Banjo. Properly Bandore, from the Greek Pandoura, a stringed instrument named after Pan. The word was introduced into North America from Europe.

Banker Poet. Samuel Rogers, author of “The Pleasures of Memory,” who was a banker all his life.

Banshee. From the Gaelic bean sidhe, woman fairy.

Bantam. A species of fowl said to have been introduced to Europe from Bantam in Java.

Banting. After William Banting, a London cabinetmaker, who in 1863 reduced his superfluous fat by a dietic system peculiarly his own.

Bar. In old days, when a counter did not obtain, and drinking vessels had to be set down on the benches or barrel ends, a bar separated the frequenters of a tavern from the drawers or tapsters. Similarly, at the Courts of Law the Bar was a rail behind which a barrister or counsel had to plead his client’s cause.

Barbadoes. From the streamers of moss, resembling a beard, suspended from the tree branches.

Barbarians. The name universally applied by the Romans to wandering or warlike tribes who were unkempt and unshaven.

Barbarossa. The sobriquet of Frederick the First of Germany, on account of his red beard.

Barbary. The land of the Berbers, the Arabic description of the people of this region prior to the Saracen Conquest.

Barber. From the Latin barba, a beard.

Barber-surgeons. Hairdressers who, down to the sixteenth century, also practised “cupping” or blood-letting, a relic of which is the modern Barber’s Pole. The red and white stripes around the pole denoted the bandages, 25while in place of the gilt knob at the end there originally hung the basin affixed under the chin of the patient operated upon.

Barbican. That portion of the Roman wall round the city of London where there must have been a watch-tower looking towards the north. Barbacana is a Persian word for a watch-tower in connection with a fortified place.