1879. J. W. Horsley, 'Autobiography of a Thief,' in Macm. Mag., XL., 502. Broadsmen (card-sharpers).
1888. G. R. Sims, in Cass. Sat. Journal, 31 March, p. 7. The broadsman is a card-sharper.
Broady, subs. (common).—1. Cloth. [A corruption of broad-cloth.]
1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, I., p. 54. Gentlemen finding their own broady can be accommodated.
1883. Daily Telegraph, August 7, p. 6, col. 2. The prospectus further intimated that . . . gentlemen 'finding their own broady . . . could be accommodated.'
2. (thieves'.)—Anything worth stealing.—See Broady worker.
Broady Worker, subs. (thieves').—A man who goes round selling vile shoddy stuff under the pretence that it is excellent material, which has been 'got on the cross,' i.e., stolen.
Brock, verb (Winchester College).—To bully; to tease; to badger. [Brock is a north country and Hampshire name for at badger.] In French military schools this is called faire une brimade or faire brimer.
Brockster, subs. (Winchester College).—A bully.—See Brock.
Brogues, subs. (Christ's Hospital).—Breeches. This is, in reality, an obsolete old English term which has survived among the 'Blues.'
Broiled or Boiled Crow. To eat boiled crow.—A newspaper editor, who is obliged by his 'party' or other outside influences, to advocate 'principles' different from those which he supported a short time before, is said to 'eat boiled crow.' Originally the phrase was simply to eat crow, and the following account is that currently accepted as to its derivation.
1888. Atlanta Constitution. During the unpleasantness between the States and England, there were located on opposite sides of the Niagara river a British and an American fort, and during an armistice the soldiers of both garrisons were accustomed to go hunting. Among the American troops was one long, lank, stuttering specimen of the genus Yankee, who would persist, in spite of orders to the contrary, in going across the river on his hunting expeditions. One day when on the Canada side he had had poor luck and got nothing, but resolved not to go back entirely empty handed. While passing through the grounds of an English gentleman, he spied a crow, and, blazing away, brought it down. The Englishman had witnessed the shot and resolved to punish the offender for poaching on his private grounds. As the Yankee was loading his gun he approached, and, complimenting him on his good shot, asked to look at his gun. The unsuspecting Yankee handed it to him, and the Briton, bringing the gun to his shoulder and covering the Yankee, abused him for trespassing on his grounds, and ordered him, on pain of death, to take a bite out of the crow. The soldier begged and pleaded, but to no avail. The Englishman had the drop on him, so he finally bit a piece from the breast of the crow. The Englishman, after warning him to keep off his premises in the future, handed him back his gun and bade him clear out. No sooner was his rifle returned than he covered the Briton and ordered him to finish the crow. Then it was the Englishman's turn to beg off, but the Yankee was firm, and the Englishman, with many a wry face, did succeed in downing several bites of the unsavoury bird. His wounded honour being appeased, the Yankee betook himself back to the fort. The Englishman the next day went to the American commander and told his version of the affair, and demanded that the culprit be punished. From the description given, the American officer knew that the offender must have been the stuttering soldier, and ordered him to be brought
