Phrases and names, their origins and meanings / by Trench H. Johnson.

  • Johnson, Trench H.
Date:
[1906]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Phrases and names, their origins and meanings / by Trench H. Johnson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    34/400 (page 22)
    Back a Man. To have full confidence in him. From backing or endorsing a bill on another’s behalf. Badajoz. Called by the Moors Beledaix, “ Land of Health.” Bad Egg. A man who is commercially or morally unsound, and therefore fit only to be shunned. Badger State. Wisconsin, from the name given to the early miners, who made for themselves winter habita- tions in the earth, like a badger. Badminton. A drink of spiced claret, and also a game of tennis played with shuttlecocks instead of balls, intro- duced by the Duke of Beaufort at Badminton, his country seat. Baffin’s Bay. After William Baffin, the pilot of an expedi- tion sent out to explore this region in 1616. Bagatelle. From the Italian bagetella, a conjurer’s trick. Baggage. A term often applied to a woman, because the wives of soldiers taken on foreign service go with the stores and baggage generally. In the United States this word is an equivalent for the English “ Luggage.” Bagman. The old name for a commercial traveller, who carried his samples in a bag. Bag o’ Nails. A popular corruption of the ancient inn sign, “The Bachannals,” referring to Pan and the Satyrs. Bag o’ Tricks. In allusion to the large bag in which an itinerant conjurer carried his tricks. Bakers’ Dozen. In olden times, when bread was sold in open market instead of shops, women took up the trade of selling bread from door to door. They re- ceived from the bakers thirteen loaves for the price of twelve, the odd one constituting their profit. Baker Street. After Sir Edward Baker, a great friend of the Portmans of Dorsetshire, the ground landlords. Bakshish. A Persian word for “ gratuity.” Balaklava. When settled by the Genoese, they gave it the name of Bella-chiava, or “Fair Haven.”