B.A. degree. Same as A.B. (q.v.).

B.C. In dates an abbreviation for "Before Christ," before the Christian

era.

Marked with B.C. When a soldier disgraced himself by insubordination he was formerly marked with "B.C." (bad character) before he was drummed out of the regiment.

B. K. S. A humorous abbreviation of BarracKS, which formerly used to be given as an address by officers in mufti who did not wish to give their own address.

B. L. T. The initials of Bert Leston Taylor (Am. 1866-1921) with which he signed his popular humorous column in the Chicago Tribune.

B.S. degree. Bachelor of science; the degree conferred upon the completion of a four years' college course or its equivalent, with major work in scientific studies. Cp. A. B.

B., Mr. In Richardson's Pamela (q.v.), a gentleman of station who attempts to seduce Pamela but ends by marrying her. He appears only as "Mr. B." in the series of letters which constitutes the novel. In Fielding's Joseph Andrews, which was started as a burlesque of Pamela, Mr. B. has a sister called Lady Booby; and some of the later editions of Pamela have attempted to avoid the implication by giving him the name Boothby.

Baal, plu. Baalim. A general name for all the Syrian gods, as Ash'taroth is for the goddesses. Baal is a Semitic word meaning proprietor or possessor, primarily the title of a god as lord of a place (e.g. Baal-peor, lord of Peor), or as possessor of some distinctive characteristic or attribute (e.g. Baal-zebub, or Beelzebub, q.v.). The worship of the Baalim-for they were legion I was firmly established in Canaan at the time of the Israelites' incursion; the latter adopted many of the Canaanitish rites, and grafted them on to their own worship of Jehovah, Jehovah becoming especially when worshiped at the "high places merely the national Baal. It was this form of worship that Hosea and other prophets denounced as heathenism. Hence a Baal is a false god. Baba, Ali. The hero of the tale Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (q.v.).

Cassim Baba. Brother of Ali Baba, who entered the cave of the forty thieves, but forgot the pass-word, and stood crying, Open, Wheat! Open, Barley!" to

B

Mus'tapha Baba. A cobbler who sewed together the four pieces into which Cassim's body had been cleft by the forty thieves.

Babalatchi. A one-eyed native of Sambir, father of Aïssa and chief adviser of Lakamba, the rajah, in Conrad's Outcast of the Islands (q.v.).

Babbie. The heroine of Barrie's Little Minister (q.v.).

Babbitt. A novel by Sinclair Lewis (Am. 1922). Babbitt is a crude and selfimportant American business man in a city of some size, a man with little culture but with the American spirit of wanting to get on in the world.

Babel. A perfect Babel. A thorough confusion. A confused uproar, in which nothing can be heard but hubbub. The allusion is to the confusion of tongues at Babel (Gen. xi). According to the narrative the children of men attempted to build a tower that would reach to heaven, and Jehovah, to prevent its completion, "confounded their language so that

they could not understand one another. Hence a Tower of Babel is a visionary scheme.

God ... comes down to see their city,
and in derision sets

Upon their tongues a various spirit, to raze
Quite out their native language, and instead
To sow a jangling noise of words unknown.
Forthwith a hideous gabble rises loud
Among the builders; each to other calls
Not understood.. Thus was the building left
Ridiculous, and the work Confusion named.

Milton: Paradise Lost, xii. 48-62. Babes in the Wood. Characters in an old English ballad and nursery tale. See Children. The phrase has been humorously applied to (1) simple trustful folks, never suspicious, and easily gulled; (2) insurrectionary hordes that infested the mountains of Wicklow and the woods of Enniscorthy towards the close of the 18th century; and (3) men in the stocks or in the pillory.

Babes, Protecting Deities of. According to Varro, Roman infants were looked after by Vag tanus, the god who caused them to utter their first cry; Fabulinus, who presided over their speech; Cuba, the goddess who protected them in their cots; and Domidu'ca, who brought young children safe home, and kept guard over them when out of their parents' sight.

Babie Bell, The Ballad of. A poem by T. B. Aldrich (Am. 1856).

Baboon, Lewis. A character in Arbuthnot's political satire The History of John Bull (1712) meant to represent Louis XIV (Lewis Bourbon) and, in a larger sense, the French nation.

Babylon. The Modern Babylon. So London is sometimes called, on account of its wealth, luxury, and dissipation. Cairo in Egypt was so called by the Crusaders. Rome was so called by the Puritans; and the name has often been given to New York. The reference is to Rev. xvii. and xviii.

The hanging gardens of Babylon. See Hanging.

The whore of Babylon. An epithet bestowed on the Roman Catholic Church by the early Puritans and some of their descendants. The allusion is to Rev. xvii-xix. In the book of the Revelation Babylon stands for the city of the Antichrist (q.v.).

Babylonian Captivity. The seventy years that the Jews were captives in Babylon. They were made captives by Nebuchadnezzar, and released by Cyrus (B. C. 536).

Baca, The Valley of. An unidentified place mentioned in Ps. lxxxiv. 6, meaning the Valley of Weeping, and so translated in the Revised Version. Baca trees were either mulberry trees or balsams.

or

Bacbuc. A Chaldean or Assyrian word for an earthenware pitcher, cruse, bottle, taken by Rabelais as the name of the Oracle of the Holy Bottle (and of its priestess), to which Pantagruel and his companions made a famous voyage. The question to be proposed was whether or not Panurge ought to marry. The Holy Bottle answered with a click like the noise made by a glass snapping. Bacbuc told. Panurge the noise meant trine (drink), and that was the response, the most direct and positive ever given by the oracle. Panurge might interpret it as he liked, the obscurity would always save the oracle. See Oracle.

Bacchae, The. A tragedy by Euripides (c. B. C. 485-407), considered one of his greatest; a study of religious intoxication. Bacchus (q.v.) who has just returned from India to his native Thebes, finds King Pentheus determined to put an end to the wild rites of the Bacchantes, of whom his mother Agave is chief. Encouraged by Bacchus, Pentheus goes out to the forests in search of the revelers, and the excited Agave kills him under the delusion that he is a wild beast.

Bacchanalia. The triennial festivals

held at night in Rome in honor of Bacchus, called in Greece Dionysia, Dionysus being the Greek equivalent of Bacchus. In Rome, and in later times in Greece, they were characterized by drunkenness, debauchery and licentiousness of all kinds. Hence bacchanalian, drunken. The terms are now applied to any drunken and convivial orgy on the grand scale. Originally these celebrations were very different and are of greater importance than are any other ancient festivals on account of their connection with the origin and development of the drama; for in Attica at the Dionysia choragic literary contests were held, from which both tragedy and comedy originated.

Bacchanals, Bacchants, Bacchantes. Priests and priestesses, or male and female votaries, of Bacchus; hence, drunken roysterers.

Bacchus. In Roman mythology, the god of wine, the Dionysus of the Greeks, son of Zeus and Semele. He is represented in early art as a bearded man and completely clad, but after the time of Praxiteles as a beautiful youth with black eyes, golden locks, flowing with curls about his shoulders and filleted with ivy. In peace his robe was purple, in war he was covered with a panther's skin. His chariot was drawn by panthers.

In the famous statue at the Borghese Palace he has a bunch of grapes in his hand and a panther at his feet. Pliny tells us that, after his conquest of India, Bacchus entered Thebes in a chariot drawn by elephants, and, according to some accounts, he married Ariadne after Theseus had deserted her in Naxos. His return to Thebes is the subject of Euripedes' drama The Bacchae (q.v.). In the Lusiad (q.v.) Camoëns makes Bacchus the guardian power of Mohammedanism and the evil demon of Zeus.

Bacchus sprang from the thigh of Zeus. The tale is that Sem'ele, at the suggestion of Juno, asked Zeus to appear before her in all his glory, but the foolish request proved her death. Zeus saved the child which was prematurely born by sewing it up in his thigh till it came to maturity.

What has that to do with Bacchus? i.e., what has that to do with the matter in hand? When Thespis introduced recitations in the vintage songs, the innovation was suffered to pass, so long as the subject of recitation bore on the exploits of Bacchus; but when, for variety sake, he wandered to other subjects, the Greeks

46

pulled him up with the exclamation, What has that to do with Bacchus? " Cp. Moutons.

A priest, or son, of Bacchus. A toper. Bachelor. A man who has not been married. This is a word whose ultimate etymology is unknown; it is from O.Fr. bacheler, which is from a late Latin word baccalaris. This last may be merely a translation of the French word, as it is only of rare and very late occurrence, but it may be allied to baccalarius, a late Latin adjective applied to farm laborers, the history of which is very doubtful.

In the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales (1. 80), Chaucer uses the word in its old sense of a knight not old enough to display his own banner, and so following that of another.

With him ther was his sone, a young Squyer.
A lovyere, and a lusty bacheler.

Bachelor of Arts. A student who has passed his examinations and has taken the first or lowest degree at a university, but is not yet of standing to be a master. See Arts; A.B. B.S.

Bachelor's buttons. Several flowers are so called. Red bachelor's buttons, the double red campion; yellow, the upright crowfoot; white, the white ranunculus, or white campion.

The similitude these flowers have to the jagged cloath buttons anciently worne... gave occasion to call them Bachelour's Buttons.

Gerard: Herbal.

Or else from a custom still sometimes observed by rustics of carrying the flower in their pockets to know how they stand with their sweethearts. If the flower dies, it is a bad omen; but if it does not fade, they may hope for the best; hence, to wear bachelor's buttons, to remain a bachelor.

Bachelor's fare. Bread and cheese and kisses.

Bachelor's porch. An old name for the north door of a church. Menservants and poor men used to sit on benches down the north aisle, and maidservants and poor women on the south side. After service the men formed one line and the women another, down which the clergy and gentry passed.

A bachelor's wife. A hypothetical ideal or perfect wife.

Bachelors' wives and maids' children be well taught. Heywood: Proverbs. Bacheller, Irving (1859- ). American novelist, author of Eben Holden, Darroll of the Blessed Isles, Keeping Up

with Lizzie, A Man for the Ages, etc. See those entries.

Bachelor of Salamanca, The. A novel by Le Sage (1736). The hero, Don Cherubim de la Ronda, a bachelor of arts, is placed in a vast number of different situations of life, and made to associate with all classes of society, that the author may sprinkle his satire and wit in every direction.

Back. To back. To support with money, influence, or encouragement: as to "back a friend." A commercial term meaning to endorse.

Back and edge. Entirely, heartily, tooth and nail, with might and main. The reference is to a wedge driven home to split wood.

To back and fill. A mode of tacking," when the tide is with the vessel and the wind against it. Metaphorically, to be irresolute.

To back out. To draw back from an engagement, bargain, etc., because it does not seem so plausible as you once thought it.

To break the back of a thing. To surmount the hardest part.

His back is up. He is angry, he shows that he is annoyed. The allusion is to a cat, which sets its back up when attacked by a dog or other animal.

To get one's back up. To be irritated. To have his back at the wall. To act on the defensive against odds.

To turn one's back on another. To leave, forsake or neglect him.

Behind my back. When I was not present; when my back was turned; surreptitiously.

Laid on one's back. Laid up with chronic ill-health; helpless.

Thrown on his back. Completely worsted. A figure taken from wrestlers. Backhander. A blow on the face with the back of the hand; an unexpected rebuff.

Back number. A person whose ideas or methods are out of date. A journalistic metaphor.

Back seat. To take a back seat. To withdraw into a less prominent position. The phrase was popularized by Andrew Johnson, president of the United States in 1868.

Back to Methuselah. The title of a drama by George Bernard Shaw (Eng. 1921), which embraced all human history; hence the title. It comprised three parts, each of which played for a full evening. Back-lane Parliament. See Parliaments. Back-slang. A species of slang which consists in pronouncing the word as though spelt backwards. Thus police becomes ecilop (hence the term slop for a policeman), parsnips, spinsrap, and so on. It was formerly much used by London costermongers.

Backbite, Sir Benjamin. In Sheridan's comedy, A School for Scandal, the nephew of Crabtree, very conceited and very censorious. His friends called him a great poet and wit, but he never published anything, because "'twas very vulgar to print"; besides, as he said, his little productions circulated more by giving copies in confidence to friends."

Bacon. To baste your bacon. To strike or scourge one. Bacon is the outside portion of the sides of pork, and may be considered generally as the part which would receive a blow.

To save one's bacon. To save oneself from injury; to escape loss. The allusion may be to the care taken by our forefathers to save from the numerous dogs that frequented their houses the bacon which was laid up for winter.

Bacon, Francis (1561-1626). English philosopher and essayist. His best-known. works, aside from the Essays, are his Advancement of Learning and his Novum Organum. Bacon was the first to use the inductive method of reasoning to any extent and is called "The Father of Experimental Philosophy." See below.

Bacon, Roger. An English monk of the 13th century (1214-1292) noted for his scientific experiments which caused him to be regarded as a wizard in league with the devil. He is a popular character in legend and is the central figure in Greene's comedy Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (1594). Bacon is particularly famed for his Brazen Head (q.v.).

Baconian. Baco'nian Philosophy. A system of philosophy based on principles laid down by the English philosopher Francis Bacon, Lord Ver'ulam (15611626) in the second book of his Novum Organum. It is also called inductive. philosophy.

Baconian Theory. The theory that Lord Bacon wrote the plays attributed to Shakespeare. One who holds this theory is known as a Baconian.

Baconists. A name given to the liberals in Virginia and Maryland at the end of the 17th century, after Nathaniel Bacon (1642-1676), the Virginia rebel.

Bac'trian Sage. Zoroaster, or Zarathusthra, the founder of the PersoIranian religion, who is supposed to have flourished in Bactria (the modern Balkh) before B. C. 800.

Bad Lands, The. In America, the Mauvaises Terres of the early French settlers west of Missouri; extensive tracts of sterile, alkali hills in South Dakota, rocky, desolate, and almost destitute of vegetation.

Bade'bec. In Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel, wife of Gargantua and mother of Pantagruel. She died in giving him birth, or rather in giving birth at the same time to 900 dromedaries laden with ham and smoked tongues, 7 camels laden with eels, and 25 wagons full of leeks, garlic, onions and shallots.

Badger, Mr. Bayham. In Dickens' Bleak House, a medical practitioner, at Chelsea, under whom Richard Carstone pursues his studies. Mr. Badger was a crisp-looking gentleman, with " surprised eyes"; very proud, of being Mrs. Badger's "third," and always referring to her former two husbands, Captain Swosser and Professor Dingo.

Badger State. Wisconsin. See States. Badinguet. A nickname given to Napoleon III. It is said to be the name of the workman whose clothes he wore when he contrived to escape from the fortress of Ham, in 1846.

Badou'ra. In the Arabian Nights, the daughter of Gaiour, king of China, the "most beautiful woman ever seen upon earth." She married Prince Camaralzaman with whom, by fairy influence, she fell in love and exchanged rings in a dream.

Badroul boudour. In the Arabian Nights, the daughter of the sultan of China, a beautiful brunette. She became the wife of Aladdin (q.v.), but twice nearly caused his death; once by exchanging "the wonderful lamp" for a new copper one, and once by giving hospitality to the false Fatima.

Bag. Bag and Baggage, as Get away with you, bag and baggage," i.e. get away, and carry with you all your belongings. Originally a military phrase signifying the whole property and stores of an army and of the soldiers composing it. Baggage is a contemptuous term for a woman, either because soldiers send their

wives in the baggage wagons, or from the Italian bagascia (a harlot), French bagasse, Spanish bagazo, Persian, baga. In 1876 Gladstone, speaking on the Eastern question, said, "Let the Turks now carry away their abuses in the only possible manner, namely, by carrying away themselves. . . . One and all, bag and baggage, shall, I hope, clear out from the province they have desolated and profaned." This was for a time known as the bag and baggage policy.

A bag of bones. Very emaciated; generally "A mere bag of bones."

A bag of tricks or A whole bag of tricks. Numerous expedients. In allusion to the fable of the Fox and the Cat. The fox was commiserating the cat because she had only one shift in the case of danger, while he had a thousand tricks to evade it. Being set upon by a pack of hounds, the fox was soon caught, while puss ran up a tree and was quite secure.

Bagarag, Shibli. In The Shaving of Shagpat (q.v.) by George Meredith, the young man who shaves Shagpat.

Bagot, William. The hero of Du Maurier's Trilby (q.v.), best known by his nickname of Little Billee.

Bagstock, Major Joe. In Dickens' novel, Dombey and Son, an apoplectic retired military officer, living in Princess's Place, opposite to Miss Tox. The Major had a covert kindness for Miss Tox, and was jealous of Mr. Dombey. He speaks of himself as Old Joe Bagstock,' "Old Joey," "Old J.," "Old Josh," Rough and tough Old Jo," "" J. B.," Old J. B.," and so on. He is given to over-eating, and to abusing his poor native servant. Bailey, Tom. Hero of T. B. Aldrich's Story of a Bad Boy (q.v.).

99.66

Bailiff's Daughter of Islington. An old ballad of true love told in Percy's Reliques of English Poetry, ii. 8. A squire's son loved the bailiff's daughter, but she gave him no encouragement, and his friends sent him to London, "an apprentice for to binde." After the lapse of seven years, the bailiff's daughter, "in ragged attire,' set out to walk to London, "her true love to inquire." The young man on horseback met her, but knew her not. When he inquired after the bailiff's daughter of Islington, she at first reported her dead, but relented at his evident distress and revealed herself.

Baillie, Gabriel. The nephew of Meg Merrilies in Scott's Guy Mannering. The gipsies knew him as Gabriel Faa and the people of Liddesdale as Tod Gabbie or

Hunter Gabbie. He deserted from the Shark in order to warn Dirk Hatteraick, and later identified Vanbeest Brown as the Mannering heir.

Baily's beads. When the disc of the moon has (in an eclipse) reduced that of the sun to a thin crescent, the crescent assumes the appearance somewhat resembling a string of beads. This was first described in detail by Francis Baily in 1836, whence the name of the phenomenon, the cause of which is the sun shining through the depressions between the lunar mountains.

Bairam. The name given to two great Mohammedan feasts. The Lesser begins on the new moon of the month Shawwal, at the termination of the fast of Ramadan, and lasts three days. The Greater is celebrated on the tenth day of the twelfth month (Dhul Hijja), lasts for four days, and forms the concluding ceremony of the pilgrimage to Mecca. It comes seventy days after the Lesser Bairam.

Bajardo. See Bayard.

Baker, The. Louis XVI was called "The Baker," the queen was called "the baker's wife" (or La Boulangère), and the dauphin the "shop boy because they gave bread to the mob of starving men and women who came to Versailles on October 6, 1789.

The return of the baker, his wife, and the shop-boy to Paris [after the king was brought from Versailles] had not had the expected effect. Flour and bread were still scarce. A. Dumas: The Countess de Charny, Ch. ix.

Baker, Ray Stannard ("David Grayson") (1870- ). American essayist, author of Adventures in Contentment, Adventures in Friendship, etc.

Baker's Dozen. Thirteen for twelve. When a heavy penalty was inflicted for short weight, bakers used to give a surplus number of loaves, called the inbread, to avoid all risk of incurring the fine. The 13th was the vantage loaf." Baksheesh. A Persian word for a gratuity, used throughout the Orient; also spelled bakshish.

Balaam. In the Old Testament (Numb. xxii-xxiii), a prophet whom Balak, king of Moab, had persuaded to prophesy against the Israelites. On the way to utter the curse, the ass upon which Balaam was riding stopped short in a narrow pass and could not be forced to go "And Jehovah opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee that thou hast smitten me these three times . . . Then Jehovah opened the eyes of Balaam and

on.