Page:Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant (1889) by Barrere & Leland.djvu/160



Blanket, a lawful (old cant), a wife. The allusion is obvious.

Blanket hornpipe (popular) refers to the sexual intercourse.

Blanks (Anglo-Indian), a rare word used for whites or Europeans by themselves.

Blare (popular), to roar, to bawl.

Blarney (common), flattery; supposed to be derived from a stone in the tower of Blarney Castle, near Cork, the kissing of which is a feat of some difficulty, from its perilous position in the wall. It is supposed to confer the gift of eloquence, of a kind peculiarly adapted to win the hearts of women. It is a common saying in Cork, when a man is trying his powers of persuasion or wheedling, "he has been to Blarney Castle," or "none of your blarney."

Blast (popular), a familiar name amongst the lower orders for erysipelas of the face.

Blater (popular), a calf; to "cry beef on a blater," to make a fuss about nothing.

Blather (general), idle nonsense. Also thin mud or puddle.

Blatherskite (American), a man whose tongue runs away with him; an irrepressible noisy chatterer; "blathering." Of Scotch origin (vide ).

Blaze (American). "To blaze a tree," to remove the bark so as