1852. F. E. Smedley, Lewis Arundel, ch. vi. 'By which time he expects to be so hard up that he must marry somebody, and as there will be plenty of the needful, she will suit his book as well as any other.
Booked, ppl. adj. (common).—Caught;
fixed; disposed of;
destined, etc. From the bookkeeping
term—entered in a book,
or registered.
1840. Hood, Up the Rhine, p. 6. I am booked for a much longer journey.
1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3 ed., p. 446. Booked, caught, taken, or disposed of.
1881. Jas. Payn, Grape from a Thorn, ch. xxiii. 'I don't remember anyone having given me an "engaged ring" before; and it's not leap year, neither. However, the lady's booked, which is a great relief.'
French thieves use être planché for 'to be booked'; also être mort (i.e., 'to be dead'); the adjective is rendered by faitré, and the person booked is un gerbable.
Book-Form, subs. (sporting).—The
relative powers of speed or
endurance of race-horses as set
down in the Racing Calendar or
'book.'
Bookie or Booky, subs. (sporting).—An
abbreviated form of bookmaker
(q.v.).
1885. Eng. III. Mag., April, p. 509. No rowdy ring, but a few quiet and well-known bookies, who were ready enough to lay the odds to a modest fiver.
1889. Sporting Times, 29 June. He now had occasion to speedily hie To the bookie who laid him the bet, Who was one of the small and particular fry, That at times, when convenient, forget.
Bookmaker, subs. (sporting).—The
English Encyclopedia says:—In
betting there are two parties—one
called 'layers,' as the
bookmakers are termed, and
the other 'backers,' in which
class may be included owners of
horses as well as the public.
The backer takes the odds which
the bookmaker lays against a
horse, the former speculating
upon the success of the animal,
the latter upon its defeat; and
taking the case of Cremorne
for the Derby of 1872, just
before the race, the bookmaker
would have laid 3 to 1, or perhaps
£1000 to £300 against
him, by which transaction, if
the horse won, as he did, the
backer would win £1000 for
risking £300, and the bookmaker
lose the £1000 which he
risked to win the smaller sum.
At first sight this may appear
an act of very questionable
policy on the part of the bookmaker;
but really it is not so,
because so far from running a
greater risk than the backer, he
runs less, inasmuch as it is his
plan to lay the same amount
(£1000) against every horse in
the race, and as there can be
but one winner, he would in all
probability receive more than
enough money from the many
losers to pay the stated sum of
£1000 which the chances are
he has laid against the one
winner, whichever it is.—See
also Book, subs., sense 1, and
Bookie.
1862. London Review, Aug. 30, p. 188. Betting there seemed to be none . . . we could not perceive a single book or bookmaker.
1880. W. Day, Racehorse in Training, ch. xxiv., p. 245. Bookmakers pursue a legitimate and lucrative trade by laying against all horses as they appear in the market.
1883. Hawley Smart, Hard Lines, ch. iii. Finding . . . that the bookmaker whom for once they have landed for 'a thousand to thirty' is hopelessly insolvent.
