Box Office. At one time only the private boxes at a theatre could be booked in advance; hence the term.
Box the Compass. To be able to repeat all the thirty-two degrees or points of the mariner’s compass; a mental exercise all round the compass-box.
Boycott. To ostracise a man. This word came into use in 1881, after Captain Boycott of Lough Mark Farm, co. Mayo, was cut off from all social and commercial intercourse with his neighbours for the crime of being an Irish landlord.
Boy King. Edward VI., who ascended the throne of England in his tenth, and died in his sixteenth, year.
Boz. Under this nom de plume Charles Dickens published his earliest “Sketches” of London life and character in The Morning Chronicle. He has told us himself that this was the pet name of a younger brother, after Moses Primrose in “The Vicar of Wakefield.” The infantile members of the family pronounced the name “Bozes,” and at last shortened it into “Boz.”
Bradford. From the Anglo-Saxon Bradenford, “broad ford.”
Braggadocio. After Braggadochio, a boasting character in Spenser’s “Faery Queene.”
Brahma Fowl. Originally from the district of the Brahmapootra River in India. Pootra is Sanskrit for Son; hence the river name means “The Son of Brahma.”
Brandy. From the German Brantwein, burnt wine. A spirituous distillation from wine.
Brazenose College. The brazen nose on the college gate notwithstanding, this name was derived from the fact that here stood an ancient brasenhuis, or “brew-house.” Oxford has always been famous for the excellent quality of its beer.