part without a prompter, nor utter a wise worde without a piper, you shall see we will make him to blush like a blacke dogge, when he is graveled.
cd. 1634. Withal, Dictionary, p. 557. Faciem perfricuit. Hee blusheth like a blacke dogge, hee hath a brazen face.
1738. Swift, Polite Conversation (conv. i.).
Lord Sp. (to the Maid). Mrs. Betty, how does your body politick? Col. Fye, my lord, you'll make Mrs. Betty blush. Lady Sm. Blush! Ay, blush like a blue dog.
1828. C. K. Sharpe to a lady, in C. K. S.'s Correspondence (1888), II., 421. I send you a pair of blue stockings of my own knitting. I blush like a blue dog about the workmanship, for I fear they are too short.
B.N.C., abbreviation (University).—For
Brasenose; initials of Brasen
Nose College. In spite of the
nose over the gate, the probability
is that the real name was
Brasinium. It is still famous
for its beer.
1885. Daily News, March 13, p. 5, col. I. As when Corpus bumped b.n.c. years ago, and went head of the river, whereon a spirit of wrath entered into the b.n.c. men, and next night they bumped Corpus back again.
Board, verb (military). — I. To
borrow.
2. (nautical.)—To accost; ask of; make a demand; i.e., to come to close quarters. The allusion is to boarding a ship for a hand-to-hand conflict; originally in a forcible or hostile sense, but now used in a modified form for to 'make up to,' to 'make advances to.' The figure of speech is a very old one, as will be seen from the following examples.
1547. Earl Surrey, Æneid, IV., 395. At length her self bordeth Aeneas thus, [m.]
1596. Shakspeare, Hamlet, ii., 2. [Enter Hamlet, reading.] Queen. But look, where sadly the poor wretch comes reading. Pol. . . . I'll board him presently:—O, give me leave.
1672-1726. Vanbrugh, False Friend, I., i., 97. What do you expect from boarding a woman . . . already heart and soul engaged to another.
1867. Smyth, Sailors' Word Book. Board him, a colloquialism for I'll ask, demand, or accost him.
To board in the smoke, phr. (nautical).—To take one unawares, or by surprise. In the midst of a naval fight boarding operations were often successfully carried out under cover of the smoke from a broadside.
On the board, phr. (tailors').—Enjoying all the privileges and emoluments of a competent workman. When an apprentice becomes a regular journeyman he goes 'on the board.' Tailors usually work squatting on a low raised platform—hence possibly the expression.
1877. Five Years' Penal Servitude, ch. iii., p. 146. During the term of his imprisonment he became an excellent working tailor, and was on the board, as it is termed, among those who are efficient hands.
To keep one's name on the board, phr. (Cambridge Univ.).—To remain a member of a College.
Boarding House or School, subs.
(old).—A nickname given by
thieves in London to Newgate,
but it is equally applicable to
any gaol. New York thieves
apply it to the Tombs. [From
that sense of Boarding School =
an establishment where persons
are boarded and taught, convicts
being likened to scholars.]
French thieves call such an
institution un college. For
synonyms, see Cage.
