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 buen-retiro (buen retiro properly = a private place of retirement, but in this sense is an ironical allusion to a W.C.); faire un pruneau or poser un pruneau (Michel thinks this expression is derived from clos Bruneau, a facetious name given to the posteriors about the sixteenth century); filer le cable de proue (Michel gives this as of nautical origin—seamen's latrines being situated in the fo'cas'le).

Italian Fourbesque. Tartire (properly to lighten or ease one's conscience by confessing to a Priest).

To bury a wife, verbal phr. (old).—To feast and make merry, an expression used in connection with the jollifications frequently indulged in by apprentices on the completion of their term of indenture, when they became 'full blown' crafts-*men.

Bus or Buss, subs. (theatrical).—1. A variant of business (q.v.), of which it is an abbreviation. Pronounced biz.

2. (common.)—A contraction of 'omnibus.'

1832. Ht. Martineau, Weal and Woe, i., 14. If the station offers me a place in a buss. [m.]

1852. Dickens, Bleak House, p. 93. He proposed that they should go, per buss, a little way into the country.

1861. Thackeray, Adventures of Philip, II., p. 316. We were mortified to see that of the five persons conveyed by the 'bus, one was a tradesman, etc.

1869. Black, In Silk Attire, II., p. 205. Annie Brunel got out of the Hampstead 'bus, and found herself in the muddy highway.

Verb (American).—To punch [one's head].

Bush or Be Bushed, verb (Australian).—Primarily to camp out in the bush; or to get lost in the bush. Hence a slang usage in which the expression is applied to a person in any mental or physical difficulty or muddle.

1887. All the Year Round, July 30, p. 68. An Australian says that he is bushed just as an Englishman, equally characteristically, declares that he is fogged.

1889. B. L. Farjeon, In Australian Wilds. 'We shall have to bush it, mate,' I said. 'That's so,' said Lilly Trot, unconcernedly; but looking about him sharply, despite his apparent carelessness, for a suitable spot to camp on. Ibid. We were on horseback, with blankets before us on our saddles, to provide for our getting bushed. We were prepared for rough times. I carried my revolver, and Lilly Trot had a villainous-looking black life-preserver up his sleeve, ready at a moment's notice for any emergency.

Bushed, ppl. adj. (old).—Hard up; without money; destitute.

1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dictionary. Bush'd, poor; without money.

Bushed On, verbal phr. (common).—Pleased; delighted.

Bushel Bubby, subs. (old).—A full and large breasted woman. [From bushel, a (large) measure, + bubby (q.v.), a breast.] Cf., Bubber.

Bushwhacker, subs. (American political).—In politics, as in war, simply a 'free-lance.' During the Rebellion deserters from the ranks of both armies infested the country, bands of these marauders making raids upon defenceless houses and even going the length of sacking whole towns. Originally the term was harmless enough in meaning. At a time when