Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the Norn Language in Shetland Part I.pdf/164

to b. de corn. U. O.N. berja, vb., to beat; No. berja and L.Sc. berry, in special sense: to thrash corn.

*berriskin [bər··əskın·], sb., a wooden tub; large wooden bowl. Fladab., Conn. From Fo. the word has been recorded in Low’s “Tour thro’ Orkney and Schetland” (written 1774): bergesken = a trencher or plate.— For *borriskin. Prop. *borðdiskrinn, def. form of O.N. borðdiskr, m., a dish, plate.

bersket [bə‘rskət], adj., of taste: stale; unpleasant; strong, a b. taste; denotes the taste of something which has been kept too long, of half spoiled flesh or fish. Wests. (St.). From Ai. (and Sa.) has been reported a form: berstet or birstet [bə‘rstət], and from Sa. a doubtful versket [və‘rskət]. bersket prob. for *bresket, *brisket with change of r; cf. No. brisken, adj., bitter, harsh (brisk, m., pungent, acrid taste). berstet, birstet suggests L.Sc. birssy, adj., prop. bristly, also used in sense of sharp; bitter (of the weather). versket is more closely connected as well in form as in meaning with No. vesken and L.Sc. warsche, wersh (Shetl. warshy, wershy), insipid; nauseous, and prob. orig. to be classed with these words.

*bersugget [bə‘rsog·ət], adj., variegated; spotted; with faded colours, of sheep. Fo. Only metaphorically; the prop. sense is lost. *bergsuggóttr? No. bergsugga, f., — “berggylta”, wrasse. An adjective, formed from “bergsugga”, then might denote the colours of the wrasse and be applied in transferred sense (doubtless of variegated, faded colours).

besel¹ [bēsəl], sb., one of the two pieces of wood that go (went) down from the yoke on each side of the neck of plough-oxen, and are (were) tied under the neck with a strap (a plaited band), called “de klewel”.

Nm^s., Conn., Du. Now obs. Must be O.N. beisl, beizl, n., bit; rein; bridle. The mode of using this word in Shetl. indicates that orig. it cannot be associated with bíta, to bite (see Vigfusson’s remarks on “beisl” in his Icelandic Dictionary, referring to the other Ger. forms in which r follows b).

besel² [bēsəl, bē^əsəl], sb., clotted lump in wool not properly teased; besels i’ de oo’ [‘wool’]. Du. Is prob. the same word as pesel [pesəl], a word used outside Du., tangled lump, (something in) disorder, and derived from a *pes-: Fær. pes, n., and pesja, f., old, tangled wool on sheep.

besi, sb., see bisi, bissi.

best [bæst], adj. and adv. sup., best, deviates from Eng. and answers to Da. in the expr. “to best”, for the benefit of; saved up; to the good.

*besten, sb. In Sibbald’s “Description of Orkney and Zetland”, “beistane” is quoted from Shetland with explanation: “a termination of a surname signifieing the superlative degree of comparison”. Prop. the best; my best: *besti-nn, m., and *besta-n, f.

bet [bēt, bē^ət], sb., 1) prop. something to bite, esp. of grass, given to a cow: gi’e de coo a b.! give some good grass to the cow! (Conn., Sandw., Du.); 2) pasture; grazing in the pasture for cows and sheep; in Du. sometimes with a short e [bet]. 3) taatibet, seed-potatoes. O.N. beit, f., and beiti, n., grazing, prop. something to bite. Diff. from this word is bet with a short e in sense of a small bundle of straw (dried straw: gloy), coarse grass (bent) or dried rushes (floss), = L.Sc. beet, sb.

bet [bēt, bē^ət], vb., prop. to get to bite; let bite, esp.: 1) to set a dog on the sheep; drive sheep with the help of a dog, to b. de sheep; to b. de tun wi’ de dog, to drive the sheep away from the home-