Birthday Suit, the suit in which Adam and Eve first saw each other, and “were not ashamed.”
Bishop, a warm drink composed of materials similar to those used in the manufacture of “flip” and “purl.”
Bit, fourpence; in America a 12½ cent piece is called a BIT, and a defaced 20 cent piece is termed a LONG BIT. A BIT is the smallest coin in Jamaica, equal to 6d. Bit usually means the smallest silver coin in circulation; also a piece of money of any kind. Charles Bannister, the witty singer and actor, one day meeting a Bow Street runner with a man in custody, asked what the prisoner had done; and being told that he had stolen a bridle, and had been detected in the act of selling it, said, “Ah, then, he wanted to touch the BIT.”
Bitch, tea; “a BITCH party,” a tea-drinking. Probably because undergraduates consider tea only fit for old women.—Oxford.
Bite, a cheat; “a Yorkshire BITE,” a cheating fellow from that county. The term BITE is also applied to a hard bargainer.—North; also old slang—used by Pope. Swift says it originated with a nobleman in his day.
Bite, to cheat; “to be BITTEN,” to be taken in or imposed upon. Originally a Gipsy term. Cross-biter, for a cheat, continually occurs in writers of the sixteenth century. Bailey has CROSS-BITE, a disappointment, probably the primary sense; and BITE is very probably a contraction of this.
Bit-Faker, or TURNER OUT, a coiner of bad money.
Bit-of-Stuff, overdressed man; a man with full confidence in his appearance and abilities; a young woman, who is also called a BIT OF MUSLIN.
Bitter, diminutive of bitter beer; “to do a BITTER,” to drink beer.—Originally Oxford, but now general.
Bittock, a distance of very undecided length. If a North countryman be asked the distance to a place, he will most probably reply, “a mile and a BITTOCK.” The latter may be considered any distance from one hundred yards to ten miles.