Page:Farmer - Slang and its analogues past and present - Volume 1.pdf/191

 Belongings, subs. (colloquial).—1. Qualities; endowments; faculties.

2. Relations; one's kindred.

3. One's effects; or possessions. In sense 1 belongings has long been an accepted word; senses 2 and 3 are given by Annandale as 'colloquial and vulgar.'

1852. Dickens, Bleak House. I have been trouble enough to my belongings in my day.

1866. Saturday Review, 24 Feb., p. 244, col. 2. The rich uncle whose mission is to bring prosperity to his belongings. [m.]

4. (American.)—Used by the prudishly inclined for trousers.—See Bags.

Below the Belt, adv. phr. (popular).—To strike a man below the belt is to hit him unfairly, a term derived from the pugilistic arena. Hence, underhand dealing, and the taking of mean advantage generally. It is akin with 'To stab a man in the back.'

Belswagger, subs. (old).—1. A lewd man; a whoremaster; a pimp. [Thought to be a contracted form of belly + swagger, i.e., a man given up to bodily pleasure. Ash has both forms.]

1775. Ash, Dictionary. Belswagger, a whoremaster.

2. A bully; a hectoring fellow. This is the older, but least important usage.

1592. Greene, Defence of Coney-Catching. the belswaggers of the country.

1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bellswagger, a noisy, bullying fellow.

Beltinker, subs. and verb (common).—A beating; a drubbing. To thrash; to beat soundly.—For synonyms, see Tan.

Bemused, ppl. adj. (common).—Fuddled; as in the stupid stage of drunkenness. [From be + muse + ed, originally to be sunk in reverie, or contemplation.] The expression as generally used now is bemused with beer. This phrase, originally used by Pope, was given a new impetus by G. A. Sala (in Gaslight and Daylight). In America, especially, it caught the popular fancy and ran a brief but riotous course throughout the Union to signify one who addicted himself to 'soaking' with beer. The transatlantic usage naturally reacted upon the Mother Country, and from being occasionally employed it became much more popular, and was heard on all sides—a striking instance of 'fashion in words.'

1735. Pope, Prol. Sat., 15. A parson much be-mus'd in beer.

1854. Whyte Melville, General Bounce, ch. viii. A fat little man, primed with port, but who, when not thus bemused, is an influential member of his committee.

1883. R. L. Stevenson, The Treasure of Franchard, ch. iv., in Longman's Mag., April, p. 694. So while the Doctor made himself drunk with words, the adopted stable-boy bemused himself with silence.

For synonyms generally, see Screwed.

Ben, subs. (theatrical).—1. A benefit; a performance of which the receipts, after paying expenses, are devoted to one person's special use or benefit.

1872. Miss Braddon, Dead Sea Fruit, I., 190. 'I have played clown