Blackbouler (familiar), to blackball. The expression has now a wider range, and is used specially in reference to unreturned candidates to Parliament. Un blackboulé du suffrage universel, an unreturned candidate.
Blafard (cads’), silver coin.
Il avait vu sauter une pièce de cent sous,
Se cognant au trottoir dans un bruit de cymbales,
Un écu flambant neuf, un blafard de cinq balles.
Richepin, Chanson des Gueux.
Blafarde (cads’), death.
Blague, f. Literally facility of speech, not of a very high order; talk; humbug; fib; chaff; joke. Avoir de la ——, to have a ready tongue. N’avoir que la ——, to be a facile utterer of empty words. Avoir la —— du métier, to be an adept in showing off knowledge of things relating to one’s profession. Nous avons fait deux heures de ——, we talked together for two hours. Pas de ——! none of your nonsense; let us be serious. Pousser une ——, to cram up; to joke. Sans ——, I am not joking. Une bonne ——, a good joke; a good story. Une mauvaise ——, a bad, ill-natured joke; bad trick. Quelle ——, what humbug! what a story! Ne faire que des blagues is said of a literary man whose productions are of no importance. (Popular) Blague sous l’aisselle! no more humbugging! I am not joking! —— dans le coin! joking apart; seriously.
Blaguer (familiar), to chat; to talk; to joke; not to be in earnest; to draw the long-bow; to quiz, to chaff, to humbug one, “to pull the leg;” to make a jaunty show of courage. Tu blagues tout le temps, you talk all the time. Il avait l’air de blaguer mais il n’était pas à la noce, he made a show of bravery, but he was far from being comfortable.