Исторический английский фразеологический словарь
Шрифт:
Bakers’ Dozen. In olden times, when bread was sold in open market instead of shops, women took up the trade of selling bread from door to door. They received from the bakers thirteen loaves for the price of twelve, the odd one constituting their profit.
Baker Street. After Sir Edward Baker, a great friend of the Portmans of Dorsetshire, the ground landlords.
Bakshish. A Persian word for “gratuity.”
Balaklava. When settled by the Genoese, they gave it the name of Bella-chiava, or “Fair Haven.”
23Balearic Islands. From the Greek ballein, to throw, expresses the Island of Slingers.
Ball. A dancing party received this name primarily from the curious ancient Ball Play in Church by the Dean and choir boys of Naples during the “Feast of Fools” at Easter. While singing an antiphon the boys caught the ball thrown by the Dean as they danced around him. At private dancing parties the dancers always threw a ball at one another as, to the sound of their own voices, they whirled around in sets, the pastime consisting in loosening hands in time to catch it. Afterwards the ball was discarded, but the dance time received the name of a Ballad, from the Latin ballare, to dance.
Ballad. See “Ball.”
Ballet. Expresses the French diminutive of bal, a dance. See “Ball.”
Ball’s Pond. From an inn, the “Salutation,” kept by John Ball, whose dog and duck sports in a large pond attracted a great concourse of visitors in former days.
Balsover Street. From Balsover, Derbyshire, the seat of the Fitzroys, Dukes of Grafton, the ground landlords.
Baltic Sea. A sea of belts or straits. Balt is Norse for strait.
Baltimore. After Lord Baltimore, the founder of the neighbouring state of Maryland.
Baltimore Bird. Though found almost everywhere in the United States, it is said to have received its name from the correspondence of its colours with those distinguished in the arms of Lord Baltimore, the Governor of Maryland.
Bancroft Road. After Francis Bancroft, the founder of the Drapers’ Almshouses, in this road.
Bandana. The Hindu term for silk goods generally, but now applied to cotton pocket-handkerchiefs with white or yellow spots on a blue ground.
Bandy Words with You. From the old game of Bandy, in 24which the ball was struck or bandied to opposite sides.
Bangor. From Ban-choir, “The White Choir” of the Abbey, founded by St Cungall in the sixth century.
Banjo. Properly Bandore, from the Greek Pandoura, a stringed instrument named after Pan. The word was introduced into North America from Europe.
Banker Poet. Samuel Rogers, author of “The Pleasures of Memory,” who was a banker all his life.
Banshee. From the Gaelic bean sidhe, woman fairy.
Bantam. A species of fowl said to have been introduced to Europe from Bantam in Java.
Banting. After William Banting, a London cabinetmaker, who in 1863 reduced his superfluous fat by a dietic system peculiarly his own.
Bar. In old days, when a counter did not obtain, and drinking vessels had to be set down on the benches or barrel ends, a bar separated the frequenters of a tavern from the drawers or tapsters. Similarly, at the Courts of Law the Bar was a rail behind which a barrister or counsel had to plead his client’s cause.
Barbadoes. From the streamers of moss, resembling a beard, suspended from the tree branches.
Barbarians. The name universally applied by the Romans to wandering or warlike tribes who were unkempt and unshaven.
Barbarossa. The sobriquet of Frederick the First of Germany, on account of his red beard.
Barbary. The land of the Berbers, the Arabic description of the people of this region prior to the Saracen Conquest.
Barber. From the Latin barba, a beard.
Barber-surgeons. Hairdressers who, down to the sixteenth century, also practised “cupping” or blood-letting, a relic of which is the modern Barber’s Pole. The red and white stripes around the pole denoted the bandages, 25while in place of the gilt knob at the end there originally hung the basin affixed under the chin of the patient operated upon.
Barbican. That portion of the Roman wall round the city of London where there must have been a watch-tower looking towards the north. Barbacana is a Persian word for a watch-tower in connection with a fortified place.
Barcelona. Anciently Barcino, after Hamilcar Barca, the father of Hannibal, who refounded the city.
Baring Island. Named by Captain Penny after Sir Francis Baring, first Lord of the Admiralty.
Barley Mow. An old sign for a tavern in connection with the Mow or house where the barley was stored for brewing. Mowe is Saxon for “heap.”
Barmecide’s Feast. An illusory banquet. From the story of the Barber’s Sixth Brother, in “The Arabian Nights.” Barmecide invited a starving wretch to a feast, but gave him nothing to eat.
Barnsbury. Anciently Berners’ Bury, the manor of which was held by Lady Berners, abbess of St Albans.
Barnstormer. A strolling actor. In the old days, away from the regular circuits, there were no provincial theatres or halls licensed for stage plays whatever. The consequence was a company of strolling players obtained permission to perform in a barn. Edmund Kean admitted, when in the zenith of his fame, that he had gained his experience “by barnstorming.”
Barrister. See “Bar.”
Barrow Road. This, with Barrow Hill Place, marks the site of a barrow or sepulchral mound of the Britons and Romans slain in battle.
Barry Cornwall. The anagrammatic pseudonym of Bryan Waller Procter, the poet.
Bar Tender. An Americanism for barman or barkeeper.
Bartholomew Close. The site of the ancient cloisters of St Bartholomew’s Priory, connected with the neighbouring church, which is the oldest in London.
26Bartholomew Fair. The famous fair which for centuries survived the mediaeval mart that had given rise to it in the neighbouring street, still known as Cloth Fair. It was held on the Feast of St Bartholomew.