Page:Farmer - Slang and its analogues past and present - Volume 1.pdf/119

 1880. Blackwood's Mag., July, p. 91. [Australian loq.] 'Bail up! Bail up!' shout the two red-veiled attackers, revolvers in hand.

1887. G. L. Apperson, All the Year Round, July 30, p. 68, col. 1. In times gone by, it was by no means an uncommon occurrence [in Australia] for a coach to be 'stuck up' by a band of bushrangers, whose shouts of bail up, an invitation equivalent to our 'shell out,' supported by revolver barrels, terrified the hearts of the passengers. But a coach is now seldom interfered with, and to 'stick up' is applied to less daring attempts to rob.

2. Hence, colloquially, a demand for instant payment. Equivalent to the English fork out! stump up! etc. For synonyms, see Shell out.

Bait, subs. (common).—Anger; rage; indignation. Derived from the figurative sense of 'to bait,' i.e., to worry; harass; or tease.

1882. F. Anstey, Vice-Versâ, ch. v. 'I went calmly on, smoking my cigar as if nothing was the matter. That put the Proctor in a bait, I can tell you!'

Baitland, subs. (nautical).—Admiral Smyth in his Sailors' Word Book quotes this as 'an old word, formerly used to signify a port where refreshments could be procured.'

Bake, verb. (Winchester College).—To rest, or lie down.

Baked, ppl. adj. (common).—Collapsed; exhausted; done up; e.g., 'toward the end of the course the crew were regularly baked.' A common colloquialism at the beginning of the present century; but the punning idea involved is very ancient. To bake one's bread in the sense of 'to do for one' occurs as early as 1380, as will be seen from the following quotation.

1380. Sir Ferumb, 577. For euere my bred had be bake; myn lyf dawes had be tynt.

Half-baked (common) is said of a dull-witted or imbecile person, i.e., one who is 'soft' or inexperienced, in contrast to one who is baked in the sense of 'seasoned,' quick-witted, etc.

1864. Notes and Queries, 3 S., vi., 494, 2. He is only half-baked—put in with the bread, and taken out with the cakes.

Baker, subs. (Winchester College).—A cushion. These were of two kinds; that used in 'College' was of large size, oblong in shape, and green in colour. The other used in 'Commoners' was thin, narrow, much smaller, and of red colour. The term baker is also applied to anything placed upon a form to sit upon, e.g., a blotting book or other article; in short, anything comfortable to sit upon.

(American).—A loafer. The word is generally attributed to Baron de Mandat Grancey, who, in his work Cowboys and Colonels, innocently translated the word 'loafer' as baker.

To spell baker (colloquial).—To attempt a difficult task. In the old spelling books 'baker' was frequently the first word of two syllables to which a child came when learning to spell.

Baker-Kneed, also Baker-legged, adj. (common).—1. Knock-kneed; disfigured by crooked legs. This deformity, incident to bakers, arising from the constrained position in which they knead bread, is said to be the almost certain penalty of habitually bearing any burden of