A Dictionary of Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words / Used at the Present Day in the Streets of London; the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; the Houses of Parliament; the Dens of St. Giles; and the Palaces of St. James.

by John Camden Hotten

BAMBOOZLE, to deceive, make fun of, or cheat a person; abbreviated to BAM, which is used also as a substantive, a deception, a sham, a “sell.” Swift says BAMBOOZLE was invented by a nobleman in the reign of Charles II.; but this I conceive to be an error. The probability is that a nobleman first used it in polite society. The term is derived from the Gipseys.

BANDED, hungry.

BANDY, or CRIPPLE, a sixpence, so called from this coin being generally bent or crooked; old term for flimsy or bad cloth, temp. Q. Elizabeth.

BANG, to excel or surpass; BANGING, great or thumping.

BANG-UP, first-rate.

BANTLING, a child; stated in Bacchus and Venus, 1737, and by Grose, to be a cant term.

BANYAN-DAY, a day on which no meat is served out for rations; probably derived from the BANIANS, a Hindoo caste, who abstain from animal food.—Sea.

BAR, or BARRING, excepting; in common use in the betting-ring; “I bet against the field BAR two.” The Irish use of BARRIN’ is very similar.

BARKER, a man employed to cry at the doors of “gaffs,” shows, and puffing shops, to entice people inside.

BARKING IRONS, pistols.