1888. Daily Inter-Ocean, Feb. 16. Buffalo officers to-day picked out from a batch of Erie convicts Watt N. Jones, the notorious bank-sneak and burglar so widely known professionally in every city of the United States and Canada.
Banner, subs. (American newsboys').—The
money paid for
board and lodging at the homes
frequented by these flying mercuries.
The origin of the term
is unknown.
Bant, verb (common.)—To follow
the dietary prescribed by Mr.
Banting.—See Banting.
Banting, subs. (common).—A
course of diet by which fat people
seek to reduce their bulk. It
consists in strictly discarding
as food all articles known to
favour the development of adipose
tissue. It was introduced
about the year 1864 by a Mr.
W. Banting—hence the name.
The dietary recommended was
the use of butcher's meat principally,
and abstinence from
beer, farinaceous food, and
vegetables. Also figuratively,
to reduce in any way.
1864. Times, 12 Aug., 4. The classics seemed to have undergone a successful course of banting.
1868. Miss Braddon, Only a Clod, p. 114. She was a rigid disciplinarian of the school formed by Mr. Banting. Ibid, p. 113. A parlour where all the furniture seemed to have undergone a prolonged course of banting.
1883. Knowledge, 27 July, p. 49, col. 2. Bantingism excludes beer, butter, and sugar.
Bantling, subs. (old).—A young,
or small child. This word,
once slang, is now a received
dictionary word. It is stated
in Bacchus and Venus [1737], and
by Grose, to be a cant term. It
was formerly synonymous with
bastard. Appended are a few
examples of its use when knocking
for admittance at the doors
of the dictionaries.
1593. Drayton, Eclog., vii., 102. Lovely Venus . . . smiling to see her wanton bantlings game.
1635. Quarles, Emblems, II., viii. (1718), 93. See how the dancing bells turn round . . . to please my bantling.
1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. xlvii. 'That he may at once deliver himself from the importunities of the mother and the suspense of her bantling.'
1751. Smollett, Peregrine Pickle, ch. lxxx. 'Let the bantlings,' said she, 'be sent to the hospital . . . and a small collection be made for the present support of the mother.'
1758. Goldsmith, Essays, x. Who follow the camp, and keep up with the line of march, though loaded with bantlings and other baggage.
1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, ch. xxi. 'Sell me to a gipsy, to carry pots, pans, and beggars bantlings.'
Banty, adj. (American thieves').—Saucy;
impudent.
Baptised or Christened, ppl. adj.
(old).—Mixed with water;
spirits and wines are said to be
baptised when diluted. The
French equivalent is chrétien;
also baptisé.
1636. Healey, Theophrastus, 46. He wil give his best friends his baptized wine.
Bar, verb and prep. (colloquial and
racing).—1. Used as a verb bar
signifies to exclude; to prohibit;
also to object to a person or
action. Its lineage is of undoubted
respectability, but its
usage is now but little removed
from the vulgar. As a preposition
it is synonymous with
'except'—mainly used in
racing; e.g., 'Four to one bar
one.'
c. 1598. Shakspeare, M. of Venice, ii., 2, 207. Nay, but I bar to-night:
