confederates.—See Bonnet. The derivation is obviously from that sense of to bear up, signifying support or backing up.
1828. G. Smeeton, Doings in London, p. 40. The billiard-marker refused to make any division of the spoil, or even to return the £10 which had been lost to him in bearing up the cull.
1883. Referee, Dec. 2, p. 2, col. 4. This looks as if the bearing up and 'bonneting' which has been done by friendly writers in response to my remarks is all thrown away.
Beast, subs, (common).—1. Applied
to anything unpleasant;
or, to that which displeases;
e.g., 'It's a perfect beast of a
day,' for 'it's an unpleasant
day.'—See Beastly.
2. (American cadet.)—A name given to new cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.—See Snooker.
3. (Cambridge University.)—Anyone who has left school and come up to Cambridge for study, before entering the University, is called a beast, because 'he is neither man nor boy.'
Beastly, adv. (popular).—In modern
colloquial usage applied
to whatever may offend the
taste. Akin also to 'awful,'
'everlasting,' etc.—when used
as mere intensitives, i.e., 'very,'
'exceedingly.' [Originally from
beastly, of, or pertaining to
the nature of a beast; hence,
figuratively, brutish, irrational,
unmanly; whence, through a
series of transitions, its slang
significations.]
1611. Dekker, Roaring Girle, wks., 1873, III., 159. I thought 'twould bee a beastly iourney.
1778. Johnson, in D'Arblay Diary, etc. (1876), vol. I., p. 37. 'It moves my indignation to see a gentleman take pains to appear a tradesman. Mr. Braughton would have written his name with just such beastly flourishes!'
1865. Daily Telegraph, 24 Oct., p. 5, col. 3. He was in good health . . . looked almost 'beastly well,' as I once heard it described. [m.]
1882. F. Anstey, Vice Versâ, ch. i. He had a troublesome dryness in his throat, and a general sensation of dull heaviness, which he himself would have described—expressively enough, if not with academical elegance—as 'feeling beastly.'
Beast with Two Backs, subs. phr.
(old).—Explained in second
quotation.
1602. Shakspeare, Othello, Act i., Sc. 1. Brabantio: What profane wretch art thou? Iago: I am one, Sir, that comes to tell you, your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with the two backs.
1785. Grose, Classical Dictionary of Vulgar Tongue. Beast with two backs, a man and woman in the act of copulation.
Beat, subs. (American).—1. This
word is used in many ways, its
precise meaning often depending
on its qualifying adjective.
It is said of both men and
things; for example, a live beat
is anybody or anything that surpasses
another, and the sense is
not derogatory in the least. A
dead beat, on the other hand, is
the name given to a man who
sponges on his fellows. [Probably
from that sense of beat
signifying to overcome; to show
oneself superior to, either in a
good or bad sense].
1888. New York Tribune, May 16. As we pay big money for our special news, we can't afford to throw it away on account of a little mistake in the name. So we shove her in with the single remark that it is better to have a Carrot for a President than a dead beat for a son-in-law. In this way, we again score
