To bark at the moon (colloquial).—To clamour uselessly; to agitate to no effect; to labour in vain.
1630. Taylor's Workes. And thus my booke and comparisons end together; for thus much I know, that I have but all this while bark'd at the moone, throwne feathers against the winde, built upon the sands, wash'd a blackmore, and laboured in vaine.
Barker, subs. (popular).—1. A
pistol. [From barker, a noisy
assailant, i.e., one who barks
like a dog.] Sometimes called
barking iron (q.v.). The latter,
as far as is known, is the
oldest term. An early use
of barkers bears date of 1815,
whilst barking iron occurs in
Parker's Life's Painter, 1789.
1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xxxiii. 'Had he no arms?' asked the Justice. 'Ay, ay, they are never without barkers and slashers.'
1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. xxii. 'Barkers for me, Barney,' said Toby Crackit. 'Here they are,' replied Barney, producing a pair of pistols.
1857. C. Kingsley, Two Years Ago, ch. xxiv. I'll give you five for those pistols . . . being rather a knowing one about the pretty little barkers.
English Synonyms. 'Meat in the pot.' (A Texan term, alluding to the means by which meat is literally provided for the pot. Texan figures of speech are often startling enough in originality and sententiousness. Nor is the moral ingenuity revealed by this vernacular less striking; e.g., when revolvers are said 'to make all men equal.') Other synonyms for revolvers of similar character are 'my unconverted friend'; 'a one-eyed scribe' (an argument always persuasive and sometimes unanswerable); 'blue lightning' (sometimes a tragedy in three acts: Act i., a word; Act ii., a flash of blue lightning; and Act iii., certain death); 'whistler' (from the sharp hissing sound of a bullet in its flight); 'peacemaker' (a sarcastic commentary on the proverb that 'short reckonings make long friends'); dag; pop; etc.
French Synonyms. Un aboyeur (popular: a literal translation of 'barker'; also 'a tout'); un pitroux (thieves': in the old Provencal, pitrou bore the sense of a piece of wood or stick, and it is possible that French thieves have here merely transferred the name from one weapon to another); un pétouze (a play upon words. In the old cant pétouze signified the ancient coin known as a pistole); un bayafe (thieves': formerly baillaf, a term employed by the robbers who infested the highways of Southern France. It is thought to be derived from two words bailler, to give, and affe or rather affre, signifying fear); un mandolet (thieves'); pied de cochon (military: literally 'a pig's foot'; a variety of weapon of large size and calibre); un crucifix or un crucifix à ressort (thieves': literally 'a crucifix,' or 'a crucifix with a spring'); un soufflant (thieves': soufflet = to whisper); les burettes (thieves' and popular: literally 'phials').
2. (common.)—A man employed to stand in front of shops and shows to attract the attention of passers-by, and if possible to entice them inside, where he can safely leave them to the tender mercies of the salesmen. The origin of the term is obvious; and, it is interesting to note that barker has its exact
