Part 10

BANQUE, _f._ (popular), _falsehood_, _imposition_, “plant.” (Hawkers’) La ----, _the puffing up of goods to allure purchasers_; _the confraternity of mountebanks_. (Showmens’) Truc de ----, _password which obtains admission to booths or raree-shows_. (Printers’) Banque, _pay_. La ---- a fouaillé _expresses that pay has been deferred_. Etre bloqué à la ----, or faire ---- blèche, _to receive no pay_.

BANQUET, _m._ (freemasons’), _dinner_.

BANQUETTE, _f._ (popular), _chin_.

BANQUEZINGUE, _m._ (thieves’), _banker_, “rag-shop cove.”

BANQUISTE (thieves’), _one who prepares a swindling operation_.

BAPTÊME, _m._ (popular), _head_, “nut.”

BAQUET, _m._ (popular), _washerwoman_; ---- insolent, _same meaning_ (an allusion to the impudence of Parisian washerwomen); ---- de science, _cobbler’s tub_.

BARANT, _m._ (thieves’), _gutter_, _brook_. From the Celtic baranton, _fountain_.

BARAQUE, _f._, _disparaging epithet for a house or establishment_; (servants’) _a house where masters are strict and particular_; a “shop;” _newspaper of which the editor is strict with respect to the productions_; (schoolboys’) _cupboard_; (soldiers’) _a service stripe_; (sharpers’) _a kind of swindling game of pool_.

BARBAQUE, or BIDOCHE, _f._ (popular), _meat_, or “carnish.”

BARBE, _f._ (students’), _private coaching_. (Popular) Avoir de la ---- _is said of anything old, stale_. (Theatrical) Faire sa ----, _to make money_. (Familiar) Vieille ----, _old-fashioned politician_. (Printers’) Barbe, _intoxication_, _the different stages of the happy state being_ “le coup de feu,” “la barbe simple,” “la barbe indigne.” Prendre une ----, _to get intoxicated_, or “screwed.” (Popular) Barbe, _women’s bully_, or “pensioner.”

BARBE À POUX, _m._, _an insulting expression especially used by cabbies, means lousy beard_. Also a nickname given sometimes to the pioneers in the French army on account of their long beards.

BARBEAU, _m._ (popular), _prostitute’s bully_. Properly _a barbel_.

BARBEAUDIER (thieves’), _doorkeeper_; _turnkey_, “dubsman,” or “jigger dubber;” ---- de castu, _hospital overseer_. Concerning this expression Michel says: Cette expression, qui nous est donnée par le Dictionnaire Argotique du Jargon, a été formée par allusion à la tisane que l’on boit dans les hôpitaux, tisane assimilée ici à la bière. En effet, _barbaudier_ avait autrefois le sens de _brasseur_, si l’on peut du moins s’en rapporter à Roquefort, qui ne cite pas d’exemple. En voici un, malheureusement peu concluant. Tais-toi, putain de barbaudier: Le coup d’œil purin.

BARBEROT, _m._ (convicts’), _barber_, a “strap.”

BARBET, _m._ (thieves’), _the devil_, “old scratch,” or “ruffin.”

BARBICHON, _m._ (popular), _monk_. An allusion to the long beard generally sported by the fraternity.

BARBILLE, BARBILLON, _m._, _girl’s bully_, _young hand at the business_.

BARBILLONS, _m. pl._ (popular), de Beauce, _vegetables_ (Beauce, formerly a province); ---- de Varenne, _turnips_.

BARBOT, _m._ (popular), _duck_; _girl’s bully_, “ponce.” See POISSON. (Thieves’) Vol au ----, _pocket-picking_, or “buz-faking.” Faire le ----, _to pick pockets_, “to buz,” or “to fake a cly.”

BARBOTAGE, _m._, _theft_, “push.” From barboter, _to dabble_.

BARBOTE, _f._ (thieves’), _searching of prisoners on their arrival at the prison_, “turning over.”

BARBOTER (thieves’), _to search on the person_, “to turn over;” _to steal_, “to clift;” _to purloin goods and sell them_; ---- les poches, _to pick pockets_, “to buz;” (familiar) ---- la caisse, _to appropriate the contents of a cashbox_.

BARBOTEUR, _m._ (thieves’), de campagne, _night thief_.

BARBOTIER, _m._, _searcher at prisons_.

BARBOTIN, _m._ (thieves’), _theft_; _proceeds of sale of stolen goods_, “swag.”

Après mon dernier barbotin, J’ai flasqué du poivre à la rousse.

=RICHEPIN.=

BARBUE, _f._ (thieves), _pen_.

BAR-DE-TIRE, _m._ (thieves’), _hose_.

BARIL DE MOUTARDE (cads’), _breech_. See VASISTAS.

BARKA (military), _enough_ (from the Arabic).

BARON, _m._ (popular), de la crasse, _man ill at ease in garments which are not suited to his station in life, and which in consequence give him an awkward appearance_.

BARRE, _f._ (thieves’), _needle_; (popular) compter à la ----, _primitive mode of reckoning by making dashes on a slate_.

BARRÉ, _adj._ (popular), _dull-witted_, “cabbage-head.”

BARRER (popular), _to leave off work_; _to relinquish an undertaking_; _to scold_. Se ----, _to make off_, “to mizzle;” _to conceal oneself_.

BARRES, _f. pl._ (popular), _jaws_. Se rafraîchir les ----, _to drink_, “to wet or whet one’s whistle.”

BARRIQUE, _f._ (freemasons’), _decanter or bottle_.

BAS (popular), de buffet, _a person or thing of no consequence_; ---- de plafond, ---- du cul, _short person_. Vieux ---- de buffet, _old coquette_.

BASANE, or BAZANE, _f._ (popular), _skin_, or “buff.” Tanner la ----, _to thrash_, “to tan.” (Military) Tailler une ----, _is to make a certain contemptuous gesture the nature of which may best be described as follows_:--

Un tel, quatre jours de salle de police, ordre du sous-officier X... a répondu à ce sous-officier en lui taillant une bazane; la main appliquée sur la braguette du pantalon, et lui faisant décrire une conversion à gauche, avec le pouce pour pivot.--_Quoted by_ =L. MERLIN=, _La Langue Verte du Troupier_.

BAS-BLEUISME, _m._ (literary), _mania for writing_. Used in reference to those of the fair sex.

BASCULE, _f._ (popular), _guillotine_.

BASCULER (popular), _to guillotine_.

BAS-OFF, _m._ (Polytechnic School), _under-officer_.

BASOURDIR (thieves’), _to knock down_; _to stun_; _to kill_, “to give one his gruel.” See REFROIDIR.

BASSE, _f._ (thieves’), _the earth_.

BASSIN, _m._, BASSINOIRE, _f._ (familiar), _superlatively dull person_, _a bore_.

BASSINANT, _adj._ (familiar), _dull_, _annoying_, _boring_.

BASSINER (familiar), _to annoy_, _to bore_.

BASSINOIRE, _f._, _large watch_, “turnip.” See BASSIN.

BASTA (popular), _enough_; _no more_. From the Spanish.

BASTIMAGE (thieves’), _work_, “graft.”

BASTRINGUE, _m._ (popular), _low dancing-hall_; _noise_, _disturbance_, “rumpus;” (prisoners’) _a fine steel saw used by prisoners for cutting through iron bars_.

BASTRINGUEUSE, _f._ (popular), _female habituée of_ bastringues, _or low dancing-saloons_.

BATACLAN, _m._ (popular), _set of tools_; (thieves’) _house-breaking implements_, or “jilts.”

J’ai déjà préparé tout mon bataclan, les fausses clefs sont essayées.--=VIDOCQ=, _Mémoires_.

BATAILLE, _f._, (military), chapeau en ----, _cocked hat worn crosswise_. Chapeau en colonne, _the opposite of_ “en bataille.”

BÂTARD, _m._ (popular), _heap of anything_.

BATE, _f._, (popular), être de la ----, _to be happy, fortunate_, _to have_ “cocum.”

BATEAU, _m._ (popular), mener en ----, _to swindle_, _to deceive_. Monter un ----, _to impose upon_; _to attempt to deceive_.

BATEAUX, _m. pl._ (popular), _shoes_, “carts;” _large shoes_; _shoes that let in water_.

BATEAUX-MOUCHES, _m. pl._ (popular), _large shoes_.

BATELÉE, _f._ (popular), _concourse of people_.

BATH, or BATE (popular), _fine_; _excellent_; _tip-top_; _very well_. The origin of the expression is as follows:--Towards 1848 some Bath note-paper of superior quality was hawked about in the streets of Paris and sold at a low price. Thus “papier bath” became synonymous of excellent paper. In a short time the qualifying term alone remained, and received a general application.

Un foulard tout neuf, ce qu’il y a de plus bath!--=RICHEPIN.=

C’est rien ----, _that is excellent_, “fizzing.” C’est ---- aux pommes, _it is delightful_. (Thieves’) Du ----, _gold or silver_. Faire ----, _to arrest_.

BATIAU, _m._ (printers’), jour du ----, _day on which the compositor makes out his account for the week_. Parler ----, _to talk shop_.

BATIF, _m._ (thieves’), BATIVE, BATIFONNE _f._, _new_; _pretty_, or “dimber.” La fée est bative, _the girl is pretty_, _she is a_ “dimber mort.”

BATIMANCHO (Breton), _wooden shoes_.

BÂTIMENT (familiar), être du ----, _to be of a certain profession_.

BÂTIR (popular), sur le devant, _to have a large stomach_; _to have something like a_ “corporation” _growing upon one_.

BÂTON, _m._ (thieves’), creux, _musket_, or “dag;” ---- de cire, _leg_; ---- de réglisse, _police officer_, “crusher,” “copper,” or “reeler;” _priest_, or “devil dodger” (mountebanks’) ---- de tremplin, _leg_. Properly tremplin, _a spring board_; (familiar) ---- merdeux, _man whom it is not easy to deal with, who cannot be humoured_; (thieves’) ---- rompu, _ticket-of-leave convict who has broken bounds_. Termed also “canne, trique, tricard, fagot, cheval de retour.”

BÂTONS DE CHAISE, _m. pl._ (popular), noce de ----, _grand jollification_, “flare up,” or “break down.”

BATOUSE, BATOUZE, _f._ (thieves’), _canvas_; ---- toute battante, _new canvas_.

BATOUSIER, _m._ (thieves’), _weaver_.

BATTAGE (popular), _lie_, “gag;” _imposition_; _joke_; _humbug_; _damage to any article_.

BATTANT, _m._ (thieves’), _heart_, “panter;” _stomach_; _throat_, “red lane;” _tongue_, “jibb.” Un bon ----, _a nimble tongue_. Se pousser dans le ----, _to drink_, “to lush.” Faire trimer le ----, _to eat_.

BATTANTE, _f._ (popular), _bell_, or “ringer.”

BATTAQUA, _m._ (popular), _slatternly woman, dowdy_.

BATTERIE, _f._ (popular), _action of lying, of deceiving_, “cram;” _the teeth, throat, and tongue_; ---- douce, _joke_. (Freemasons’) Batterie, _applause_.

BATTEUR, _m._ (popular and thieves’), _liar, deceiver_; ---- d’antif, _thief who informs another of a likely_ “job;” ---- de beurre, _stockbroker_; ---- de dig dig, _thief who feigns to be seized with an apoplectic fit in a shop so as to facilitate a confederate’s operations by drawing the attention to himself_; (popular) ---- de flemme, _idler_.

BATTOIR, _m._ (popular), _hand_, “flipper;” _large hand_, “mutton fist.”

BATTRE (thieves’), _to dissemble_; _to deceive_; _to make believe_.

Ne t inquiète pas, je battrai si bien que je défie le plus malin de ne pas me croire emballé pour de bon.--=VIDOCQ.=

Battre à la Parisienne, _to cheat_, “to do;” ---- à mort, _to deny_; ---- comtois, _to play the simpleton_; _to act in confederacy_; ---- de l’œil, _to be dying_; ---- entifle, _to be a confederate_, or “stallsman;” ---- Job, _to dissemble_; ---- l’antif, _to walk_, “to pad the hoof;” _to play the spy_, “to nark;” ---- morasse, _to call out_ “_Stop thief!_” “to give hot beef;” ---- en ruine, _to visit_.

Drilles ou narquois sont des soldats qui ... battent en ruine les entiffes et tous les creux des vergnes.--_Le Jargon de l’Argot._

(Popular) Battre la muraille, _to be so drunk as_ “not to be able to see a hole in a ladder,” _or not to be able_ “to lie down without holding on;” ---- la semelle, _to play the vagrant_; ---- le beurre, _to speculate on ’Change_; _to be_ “fast;” _to dissemble_; ---- le briquet, _to be knock-kneed_; ---- sa flème, or flemme, _to be idle_, _to be_ “niggling;” ---- son quart _is said of prostitutes who walk the streets_. Des yeux qui se battent en duel, _squinting eyes_, or “swivel-eyes.” S’en battre l’œil, la paupière, or les fesses, _not to care a straw_. (Familiar) Battre son plein, _to be in all the bloom of beauty or talent_, “in full blast;” (military) ---- la couverte, _to sleep_; (sailors’) ---- un quart, _to invent some plausible story_; (printers’) ---- le briquet, _to knock the type against the composing-stick when in the act of placing it in_.

BATTURE. See BATTERIE.

BAUCE, BAUSSE, _m._ (popular), _master, employer_, “boss;” (thieves’) _rich citizen_, “rag-splawger;” ---- fondu, _bankrupt employer_, “brosier.”

BAUCERESSE, _f._ (popular), _female employer_.

BAUCHER (thieves’), se ----, _to deride; to make fun of_.

BAUCOTER (thieves’), _to teaze_.

BAUDE, _f._ (thieves’), _venereal disease_.

BAUDROUILLARD, _m._ (thieves’), _fugitive_.

BAUDROUILLER (thieves’), _to decamp_, “to make beef.” See PATATROT.

BAUDROUILLER, or BAUDRU, _m._ (thieves’), _whip_.

BAUGE, _f._ (thieves’), _box_, _chest_, or “peter;” _belly_, “tripes.”

BAUME, _m._ (popular), d’acier, _surgeons’ and dentists’ instruments_; ---- de porte-en-terre, _poison_.

BAUSSER (popular), _to work_, “to graft.”

BAVARD, _m._ (popular), _barrister_, _lawyer_, “green bag;” (military) _punishment leaf in a soldier’s book_.

BAVARDE, _f._ (thieves’), _mouth_, “muns,” or “bone box.”

Une main autour de son colas et l’autre dans sa bavarde pour lui arquepincer le chiffon ronge.--=E. SUE.=

BAVER (popular), _to talk_, “to jaw;” ---- des clignots, _to weep_, “to nap a bib;” ---- sur quelqu’un, _to speak ill of one_, _to backbite_. Baver, also _to chat_. The expression is old.

Venez-y, varletz, chamberières, Qui sçavez si bien les manières, En disant mainte bonne bave.

=VILLON=, 15th century.

BAVEUX, _m._ (popular), _one who does not know what he is talking about_.

BAYAFE, _m._ (thieves’), _pistol_, “barking iron,” or “barker.”

BAYAFER (thieves’), _to shoot_.

BAZAR, _m._ (military), _house of ill-fame_, “flash drum;” (servants’) _house where the master is particular_, “crib;” (popular) _any house_; (prostitutes) _furniture_, “marbles;” (students) _college or school_, “shop.”

BAZARDER (popular), _to sell off anything, especially one’s furniture_; _to barter_; (military) _to pillage a house; to wreck it_.

BAZENNE, _f._ (thieves’), _tinder_.

BÉ, _m._ (popular), _wicker-basket which rag-pickers sling to their shoulders_.

BÉAR, _adj._ (popular), laisser quelqu’un ----, _to leave one in the lurch_.

BEAU, _m._, _old term for swell_; ex-----, _superannuated swell_.

BEAU BLOND (thieves’), _a poetical appellation for the sun_.

BEAUCE, _f._ (thieves’), plume de ----, _straw_, or “strommel.”

BEAUCE, _m._, BEAUCERESSE, _f._, _second-hand clothes-dealers of the Quartier du Temple_.

BEAUGE, _m._ (thieves’), _belly_, “guts.”

BEAUSSE, _m._ (thieves’), _wealthy man_, “rag-splawger,” _or one who is_ “well-breeched.”

BÉBÉ, _m._ (popular), _stunted man_; _female dancer at fancy public balls in the dress of an infant_; _the dress itself_; _term of endearment_. Mon gros ----! _darling! ducky!_

BEC, _m._ (popular), _mouth_, “maw;” ---- salé, _a thirsty mortal_. Claquer du ----, _to be fasting_, “to be bandied.” Rincer le ---- à quelqu’un, _to treat one to some drink_. Se rincer le ----, _to wet one’s whistle_. Tortiller du ----, _to eat_, “to peck.” Casser du ----, _to have an offensive breath_. Avoir la rue du ---- mal pavée, _to have an irregular set of teeth_. Ourler son ----, _to finish one’s work_. (Sailors’) Se calfater le ----, _to eat or drink_, “to splice the mainbrace.” (Thieves’) Bec de gaz, bourrique, flique, cierge, arnif, peste, laune, vache, _police-officer or detective_, “pig,” “crusher,” “copper,” “cossack,” “nark,” &c.

BÉCANE, _f._ (popular), _steam engine_, “puffing billy;” _small printing machine_.

BÉCARRE _is the latest title for Parisian dandies_; and the term is also used to replace the now well-worn expression “chic.” The “bécarre” must be grave and sedate after the English model, with short hair, high collar, small moustache and whiskers, but no beard. He must always look thirty years of age; must neither dance nor affect the frivolity of a floral button-hole nor any jewellery; must shake hands simply with ladies and gravely bend his head to gentlemen. “Bécarre--being translated--is ‘natural’ in a musical sense.”--_Graphic, Jan. 2, 1886_. The French dandy goes also by the appellations of “cocodès, petit crevé, pschutteux,” &c. See GOMMEUX.

BÉCASSE, _f._ (popular), _female guy_.

Eh! va donc, grande bécasse!

BECFIGUE DE CORDONNIER, _m._ (popular), _goose_.

BÊCHAGE, _m._ (familiar), _sharp criticism_.

BÊCHER (familiar), _to criticize_, _to run down_; (popular) _to beat_, “to bash.” Se ----, _to fight_, “to have a mill.”

BÊCHEUR, _m._ (thieves’), _beggar_, “mumper;” _juge d’instruction_, _a magistrate whose functions are to make out a case, and examine a prisoner before he is sent up for trial_. Avocat ----, _public prosecutor_.

BÊCHEUSE, _f._ (thieves’), _female thief_.

BÉCOT, _m._ (popular), _mouth_, “kisser;” _kiss_, “bus.”

BÉCOTER (popular), _to kiss_; _to fondle_, “to firkytoodle.”

BECQUANT, _m._ (thieves’), _chicken_, “cackling cheat,” or “beaker.”

BECQUETANCE, _f._ (popular), _food_, “grub.”

BECQUETER (popular), _to eat_, “to peck.”

Dis-donc! viens-tu becqueter? Arrive clampin! Je paie un canon de la bouteille.--=ZOLA.=

BEDON, _m._ (popular), _belly_, “tripes,” or “the corporation.”

BÉDOUIN, _m._ (popular), _harsh man_, or “Tartar;” _one of the card-sharper tribe_.

BEEK (Breton), _wolf_. Gwelet an euz ar beek _is equivalent to_ elle a vu le loup, _that is, she has lost her maidenhead_.

BEFFEUR, _m._, BEFFEUSE, _f._ (popular), _deceiver_, _one who_ “puts on.”

BÈGUE, _f._ (thieves’), _oats_; also abbreviation of bézigue, a certain game of cards.

BÉGUIN, _m._ (popular), _head_, “nut;” _a fancy_. Avoir un ---- pour quelqu’un, “_to fancy someone_, “to cotton on to one.”

BEIGNE, _f._ (popular), _cuff or blow_, “bang.”

BÊLANT, _m._ (thieves’), _sheep_, “wool-bird.”

BELÊT, _m._ (horse-dealers’), _sorry horse_, “screw.”

BELETTE, _f._ (popular), _fifty-centime piece_.

BELGE, _f._ (popular), _Belgian clay-pipe_.

BELGIQUE (familiar), filer sur ----, _to abscond with contents of cash-box_, _is said also of absconding fraudulent bankrupts, who generally put the Belgian frontier between the police and their own persons_.

BÉLIER, _m._ (cads’), _cuckold_.

BELLANDER (tramps’), _to beg_, “to cadge.”

BELLE, _f._ (popular and familiar), attendre sa ----, _to wait one’s opportunity_. Jouer la ----, _to play a third and decisive game_. La perdre ----, _to lose a game which was considered as good as won_; _to lose an opportunity_. (Thieves’) Etre servi de ----, _to be imprisoned through mistaken identity_; _to be the victim of a false accusation_. (Popular) Belle à la chandelle, _f._, _ugly_; ---- de nuit, _female habituée of balls and cafés_; (familiar) ---- petite, _a young lady of the demi-monde_, a “pretty horse-breaker.”

BÉNARD, _m._ (popular), _breeches_, “kicks,” or “sit-upons.”

BÉNEF, _m._, for bénéfice, _profit_.

BÉNÉVOLE, _m._ (popular), _young doctor in hospitals_.

BÉNI-COCO (military), être de la tribu des ----, _to be a fool_.

BÉNI-MOUFFETARD (popular), _dweller of the Quartier Mouffetard_, _the abode of rag-pickers_.

BÉNIR (popular), bas, _to kick one in the lower part of the back_, “to toe one’s bum,” “to root,” or “to land a kick;” (popular and thieves’) ---- des pieds, _to be hanged_, “to cut caper-sauce,” or “to be scragged.”

BÉNISSEUR, _m._ (familiar), _one who puts on a dignified and solemn air, as if about to give his blessing, and who delivers platitudes on virtue, &c._; _one who makes fine but empty promises_; _political man who professes to believe, and seeks to make others believe, that everything is for the best_. An historical illustration of this is General Changarnier thus addressing the House on the very eve of the Coup d’Etat which was to throw most of its members into prison, “Représentants du peuple, délibérez en paix!”

BENOÎT, _m._ (popular), _woman’s bully_, “ponce.” See POISSON.

La vrai’ vérité, C’est qu’ les Benoîts toujours lichent Et s’graissent les balots. Vive eul’ bataillon d’ la guiche, C’est nous qu’est les dos.

=RICHEPIN=, _Chanson des Gueux_.

BENOÎTON, _m._, BENOÎTONNE, _f._, _people eccentric in their ways and style of dress_. From a play of Sardou’s, _La Famille Benoîton_.

BENOÎTONNER, _to live and dress after the style of the Benoîtons_ (which see).

BENOÎTONNERIE, _f._, _style and ways of the Benoîtons_.

BEQ, _m._ (engravers’), _work_.

BÉQUET, _m._ (shoemakers’), _patch of leather sewn on a boot_; (wood engravers’) _small block_; (printers’) _a composition of a few lines_; _paper prop placed under a forme_.

BÉQUETER (popular), _to eat_, “to peck,” or “to grub.”

BÉQUILLARD, _m._ (popular), _old man_, _old_ “codger;” (thieves’) _executioner_.

BÉQUILLARDE, _f._ (thieves’), _guillotine_.

BÉQUILLE, _f._ (thieves’), _gallows_, “scrag.” Properly _crutch_.

BÉQUILLÉ, _m._ (thieves’), _hanged person_, _one who has_ “cut caper sauce.”

BÉQUILLER (popular), _to hang_; _to eat_, “to grub.”

BÉQUILLEUR, _m._ (thieves’), _executioner_; _man who eats_.

BERCE. Cheval qui se ----, _horse which rocks from side to side when trotting, which_ “wobbles.”

BERDOUILLARD (popular), _man with a fat paunch_, “forty guts.”

BERDOUILLE, _f._ (popular), _belly_, “tripes.”

T’as bouffé des haricots que t’as la berdouille gonfle.--=RICHEPIN=, _Le Pavé_.

BERGE, _f._, or LONGE (thieves’), _year_; _one year’s imprisonment_, “stretch.”

BERGÈRE, _f._ (popular), _sweetheart_, “poll;” _last card in a pack_.

BÉRIBONO, BÉRICAIN (thieves’), _silly fellow easily deceived_, a “flat,” a “go along.”

BERLAUDER (popular), _to lounge about_, “to mike;” _to go the round of all the wine-shops in the neighbourhood_.

BERLINE DE COMMERCE, _f._ (thieves’), _tradesman’s clerk_.

BERLU, _m._ (thieves’), _blind_, or “hoodman.” From avoir la berlue, _to see double_.

BERLUE, _f._ (thieves’), _blanket_, “woolly.”

BERNARD, _m._ (popular), aller voir ----, or aller voir comment se porte madame ----, _to ease oneself_, “to go to Mrs. Jones.”

BERNARDS, _m. pl._ (popular), _posteriors_, “cheeks.”

BERNIQUER (popular), _to go away with the intention of not returning_.

BERRI, _m._ (popular), _rag-picker’s basket_.

BERRY, _m._ (Ecole Polytechnique), _fatigue tunic_.

BERTELO, _m._ (thieves’), _one-franc piece_.

BERTRAND, _m._ (familiar), _a swindler who is swindled by his confederates, who acts as a cat’s-paw of other rogues_.

BERZÉLIUS, _m._ (college), _watch_.

BESOIN, _m._ (popular), autel de ----, _house of ill-fame_, or “nanny-shop.”

BESOUILLE, _f._ (thieves’), _belt_. From bezzi, Italian, _small coin kept in a belt_.

BESSONS, _m. pl._ (popular), _the breasts_, “dairies.” Properly _twins_.

BESTIASSE, _f._ (popular), _arrant fool_; _dullard_, “buffle-head.”

BÊTE, _f. and adj._ (thieves’), _confederate in a swindle at billiards_. See BACHOTTER. (Popular) ---- à bon Dieu, _harmless person_ (properly _lady-bird_); ---- à cornes, _fork_; _lithographic press_; ---- à deux fins, _walking-stick_; ---- à pain, _a man_; _also a man who keeps a woman_; ---- comme ses pieds, _arrant fool_; ---- comme chou, _extremely stupid_; _very easy_; ---- épaulée, _girl who has lost her maidenhead_ (this expression has passed into the language). Une ---- rouge, _an advanced Republican, a Radical_. Thus termed by the Conservatives. Called also “démoc-soc.”

BÊTISES, _f. pl._ (popular), _questionable_, or “blue,” _talk_.

BETTANDER (thieves’), _to beg_, “to mump,” or “cadge.”

BETTERAVE, _f._ (popular), _drunkard’s nose_, _a nose with_ “grog blossoms,” _or a_ “copper nose,” _such as is possessed by an_ “admiral of the red.”

BEUGLANT, _m._ (familiar), _low music hall_; _music hall_.

BEUGLER (popular), _to weep_, “to nap one’s bib.”

BEUGNE, _f._ (popular), _blow_, “clout,” “bang,” or “wipe.”

BEURLOQUIN, _m._ (popular), _proprietor of boot warehouse of a very inferior sort_.

BEURLOT, _m._ (popular), _shoemaker in a small way_.

BEURRE, _m._ (familiar), _coin_, “oof;” _more or less lawful gains_. Faire son ----, _to make considerable profits_. Mettre du ---- dans ses épinards, _to add to one’s means_. Y aller de son ----, _to make a large outlay of money in some business_. C’est un ----, _it is excellent_, “nobby.” Avoir l’assiette au Beurre. See AVOIR. Au prix où est le ----. See AU. Avoir du ---- sur la tête. See AVOIR.

BEURRE DEMI-SEL, _m._ (popular), _girl or woman already tainted_, _in a fair way of becoming a prostitute_.

BEURRIER, _m._ (thieves’), _banker_, “rag-shop cove.”

BÉZEF (popular), _much_. From the Arabic.

BIARD (thieves’), _side_. Probably from biais.

BIBARD, _m._ (popular), _drunkard_, or “mop;” _debauchee_, or “sad dog.”

BIBARDER (popular), _to grow old_.

BIBARDERIE, _f._ (popular), _old age_.