Page:Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant (1889) by Barrere & Leland.djvu/147

 Bingo (old cant), probably of gypsy origin. Spirits or brandy.

"Bingo boy," a drunkard; "bingo mort," female dram-drinker.

Bing (gypsy), the devil, an evil spirit, probably suggested the word. Puns on spirit in its twofold meaning have always been common both in English and gypsy. Bengalo pani (gypsy), rum.

Bingy (trade), a term largely used in the butter trade to denote bad, ropy butter (Hotten).

Binnacle-word (nautical), any learned or affected word used in the navy, which the sailors jeeringly offer to chalk upon the binnacle.

Binni (tinker), small; binny soobli, a boy; lit., small man.

Birch broom (thieves), rhyming slang for room.

Birdcage, a slang term in vogue among the lower orders for a bustle, or in more modern slang a "dress improver." This part of a lady's toilet is a kind of pad or cushion worn at the back of the dress for the purpose of expanding the skirts, and, in some cases, making up for certain deficiencies in the wearer's form. Those now in fashion are immensely elongated structures, little suggestive of the human form; some are built on the principle of the old crinoline, with wire or steel ribs, hence the appellation of birdcage.

Not long ago there was an action relating to patents in the High Court of Justice. The court was strewn with various specimens of these articles, and considerable amusement was caused by the spectacle of a judge and several leading counsel arguing gravely on the intricacies of the various designs for dress-improvers. The judge, after looking at several designs, said, "I hope you are going to produce another of these articles, Mr., which I do not see here. It is called the Jubilee ... it is one which, when a lady sits down, plays the 'National Anthem. An old lawyer would have his feeble joke, too, and remarked that he had attended the sittings of the court for many years, but that never had he witnessed so much "bustle."