Page:Farmer - Slang and its analogues past and present - Volume 1.pdf/171

 Bear a bob, verbal phr. (nautical).—1. To lend a hand; look sharp! look alive!

2. (popular.)—To aid, to assist, to take part in anything.

Bearded Cad, subs. (Winchester College).—A porter, employed by the College to convey luggage from the railway station to the school. The term originated in an extremely hirsute individual, who, at one time, acted in the capacity.

Beard-Splitter, subs. (old).—A man much given to the company of prostitutes; nowadays called a hot member, or molrower, which see for synonyms. [From beard, a tuft of hair + splitter, one who divides. The allusion is obvious.]

Bearer-Up.—See Bear up and Bonnet.

Bear-Garden Jaw, subs. (old).—Rough, unmannerly speech; talk akin to that used in bear gardens and other places of low resort. Quoted by Grose, 1785. [From bear-garden, a place set apart for bear baiting and other rough sports + jaw, talk or speech.]

1848. John Forster, Life of Oliver Goldsmith, bk. IV., chap. xi. He called Burke a bear-garden railer.

1871. Archibald Forbes, My Experience of the War between France and Germany, p. 301. The bear-garden-like Babel was rather more noisy than usual.

Be-Argered, adj. (familiar).—Drunk.

Bearing, ppl. adj. (Stock Exchange).—Acting as a bear (q.v.); or using artifices to lower the price of stock to suit a 'bear' account.

Bearings. To bring one to one's bearings, verbal phr. (colloquial).—To bring one to reason; to act as a check. A nautical term.

Bear-Leader, subs. (old).—A travelling tutor. In the days when it was customary to send 'young hopefuls' on the Grand Tour, the expression was much more common and significant than is nowadays the case. The simile is taken from a person who leads about a tame bear for exhibition.

1749. Walpole, Lett. to Mann, 4 June (1883), vol. II., p. 392. I shall not wonder if she takes me for his bear-leader, his travelling governor!

1756. Foote, Englishman Returned from Paris, Act i. Serv. My young master's travelling tutor, sir, just arrived. Crab. Shew him in. This bear-leader, I reckon now, is either the clumsy curate of the knight's own parish church, or some needy highlander.

1812. Combe, Dr. Syntax, Tour 1 ch. xxiii.

And as I almost wanted bread, I undertook a bear to lead, To see the brute perform his dance Through Holland, Italy, and France; But it was such a very Bruin,

I took my leave, and left the cub Some humbler Swiss to pay and drub.

1848. Thackeray, Book of Snobs, ch. vii. They pounced upon the stray nobility, and seized young lords travelling with their bear-leaders.

Bearskin-Jobber, subs. (Stock Exchange).—See Bear, subs., sense 1.

Bear Up, verb (common).—To cheat; to swindle in any way; more particularly applied to the action of 'decoys' and