Boutiquier, m. (familiar), narrow-minded or mean man. Literally shopkeeper.
Boutogue, f. (thieves’), shop, or “chovey.”
Bouton, m. (thieves’), master key; (popular) twenty-franc piece; —— de guêtre, five-franc gold-piece; —— de pieu, bug, or “German duck.”
Boutonner (familiar), to touch with the foil; to annoy, to bore.
Bouture, f. (popular), de putain, low, insulting epithet, which may be rendered by the equally low one, son of a bitch. Bouture, slip of a plant.
Boxon, m. (popular), brothel, or “nanny-shop.”
Boyau, m. (popular), rouge, hard drinker, or “rare lapper.”
Boye, m. (thieves’), warder, or “bloke;” convict who performs the functions of executioner at the convict settlements of Cayenne or New Caledonia.
Brac, m. (thieves’), name, “monniker,” or “monarch.”
Braconner (gamesters’), to cheat, or “to bite.” Properly to poach.
Brader (popular), to sell articles dirt cheap.
Braillande, braillarde, f. (thieves’), drawers. From the old word braies, breeches.
Braillard, m. (popular), street singer, or “street pitcher.” According to the Slang Dictionary, the latter term applies to negro minstrels, ballad-singers, long-song men, men “working a board” on which has been painted various exciting scenes in some terrible drama, &c.
Braise, f. (popular), money, “loaver.” See Quibus.
Braiser (popular), to pay, “to dub.”
Braiseur (popular), man who is very free with his money.
Brancard (popular), superannuated gay woman.
Brancards, m. pl. (popular), hands, or “flappers;” legs, or “pins;” —— de laine, weak or lame legs.
Un poseur qui veut me la faire à la redresse, que ces deux flûtes repêchées par vous dans la lance du puits n’avaient jamais porté une femme, je me connais en brancards de dames, c’est pas ça du tout.—Macé, Mon Premier Crime.
Branche, f. (popular), friend, “mate.” Ma vieille ——, old fellow! “old cock!” (Familiar) Avoir de la ——, to have elegance, “dash.”
Brancher (thieves’ and cads’), to lodge, “to perch,” or “roost.”
Brandillante, brandilleuse, f. (thieves’), bell, or “ringer.”
Branlante, f. (popular), watch, or “ticker.”
Branlantes, f. pl. (popular), old men’s teeth.
Branque, m. (thieves’), donkey, “moke.”
Bras, brasse, adj. (thieves’), large. From brasse, a fathom.
Braser (thieves’), des faffes, to forge documents, to “screeve fakements;” to forge bank-notes, or to “fake queer-soft.”
Brasset, m. (thieves’), big, stout man.
Brave, m. (popular), shoemaker, or “snob.”
Bréchet, m. (popular), stomach.
Brèchetelles, f., a kind of German cakes eaten at beershops.
Breda-street, the quarter of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette patronized by women of the demi-monde (the Paris Pimlico, or St. John’s Wood).
Bredoche, f. (popular), centime.
Bredouille, f. (popular), chevalier de la ——, one who goes out shooting on Sundays in the purlieus of Paris. From revenir bredouille, to return with an empty bag.
Breloque, f. (popular), a clock. Properly watch trinket.
Brème, m. and f. (popular), vendor of countermarks at the door of theatres. Une ——, f. (thieves’), playing card, “flat,” or “broad” (brème is a flat fish, the bream). Une —— de pacquelins, geographical map. Maquiller les brèmes, to handle cards, to play at cards, “to fake broads;” to mark cards in certain ways, to construct them on a cheating principle, “to stock briefs.” Maquilleur de brèmes, card-sharper, or “broadsman,” generally one whose spécialité is the three-card trick.
Le perdant, blème, crispe ses poings. Les compères s’approchent du maquilleur de brèmes (tripoteur de cartes), qui s’est relevé, avec un éclair mauvais dans ses yeux ternes ... il se recule et siffle. A ce signal arrive un gosse, en courant, qui crie d’une voix aiguë: Pet! v’là la rousse! Décanillons!—Richepin, Le Pavé.
(Prostitutes’) Une brème, card delivered by the police to registered prostitutes. Fille en ——, registered prostitute.
Brêmeur, m. (thieves’), card player, “broad faker.”
Brêmier, m. (thieves’), manufacturer of playing cards.
Brésilien, m. (popular), wealthy, generous man, “rag-splawger.”
Bricabracologie, art of dealing in or collecting bric-à-brac or knick-knacks.
Bricard, m. (popular), staircase.
Bricheton, m. (popular), bread; —— d’attaque, four-pound loaf.
Bricole, f. (popular), small, odd jobs that only procure scanty profits. Properly a shoulder-strap used by costermongers to draw their barrows.
Bricoler (popular), to make an effort; to give a good pull; to do anything in a hurried and clumsy manner; to carry on some affair in a not over straightforward way.
Bricoleur, m. (popular), man who will undertake any kind of work, any sundry jobs.
Bricul, briculé, m. (thieves’), police inspector.
Bridaukil (thieves’), gold watch chain, “redge slang,” or “red tackle.”
Bride, f. (thieves’), watch chain, “slang;” convict’s chain. (Popular) Vieille ——, worthless, discarded object; term of contempt for individuals.
Bridé (thieves’), shackled.
Brider (thieves’), to shut, “to dub;” to fasten on a fetter, or “wife.”
Brif (Breton), bread.
Briffe, f. (popular), food, “belly timber;” bread, “tommy.” Passer à ——, to eat, “to grub.”
Briffer (popular), to eat, “to grub.”
Brigadier, m. (popular), baker’s foreman.
Brigand, m. (popular), term of friendliness. Vieux ——, you old scamp!
Brigant, brigeant, m. (thieves’), hair, or “strommel.”
Brigante or bringeante, f. (thieves’), wig, or “periwinkle.”
Brigeants or bringeants, m. pl. (thieves’), hair, “thatch.” Termed also “tifs, douilles, douillards.”
Brigeton, bricheton (popular), bread, “tommy.”
Brig-fourre, m. (military), brigadier fourrier.
Brignolet, m. (popular), bread, “tommy.”
Briller (thieves’), to light.
Brimade, f. (military), euphemism for bullying; practical and often cruel jokes perpetrated at the military school of Saint-Cyr at the expense of the newly joined, termed “melons” (“snookers” at the R. M. Academy), such as tossing one in a blanket, together with boots, spurs, and brushes, or trying him by a mock court-martial for some supposed offence. An illustration with a vengeance of such practical joking occurred some years ago at an English garrison town. Some young officers packed up a colleague’s traps, without leaving in the rooms a particle of property, nailed the boxes to the floor, and laid a he-goat in the bed. On the victim’s arrival they left him no time to give vent to his indignant feelings, for they cast him into a fisherman’s net and dragged him downstairs, with the result that the unfortunate officer barely escaped with his life.
Brimer, to indulge in brimades (which see).
Brinde, f. (popular), tall, lanky woman; landlord of a wine shop.
Brindezingue, m. (thieves’), tin case of very small diameter containing implements, such as a fine steel saw or a watch-spring, which they secrete in a peculiar manner. Says Delvau:—
Comment arrivent-ils à soustraire cet instrument de délivrance aux investigations les plus minutieuses des geôliers? C’est ce qu’il faut demander à M. le docteur Ambroise Tardieu qui a fait une étude spéciale des maladies de la gaîne naturelle de cet étui.
(Mountebanks’) Etre en ——, to be ruined, a bankrupt, “cracked up,” or “gone to smash.”
Brindezingues, m. pl. (popular), être dans les ——, to be intoxicated. From an old word brinde, toast.
Bringue, m. (popular), bread, or “soft tommy.” Mettre en ——, to smash up.
Brio, m. (familiar). Properly a musical term. Figuratively, Parler, écrire avec ——, to speak or write with spirit, in dashing style.
Brioches, f. pl. (popular). Literally gross mistake. Figuratively, Faire des ——, to lead a disorderly life.
Briolet, m. (popular), thin, sour wine, that is, “vin de Brie.”
Briquemann, briquemon, m. (military), cavalry sword.
Briquemon, m. (thieves’), tinder box.
Brisac, m. (popular), careless child who tears his clothes.
Brisacque, m. (popular), noise; noisy man.
Brisant, m. (thieves’), the wind.
Briscard or brisque, m. (military), old soldier with long-service stripes.
Brise, f. (sailors’), à faire plier le pouce, violent gale; —— à grenouille, west wind.
Briser (printers’), to cease working. (Popular) Se la ——, to go away, “to mizzle.” See Patatrot.
Briseur, m. The “briseurs” (gens qui se la brisent), according to Vidocq, are natives of Auvergne who pass themselves off for tradesmen. They at first gain the confidence of manufacturers or wholesale dealers by paying in cash for a few insignificant orders, and swindle them afterwards on larger ones. The goods, denominated “brisées,” are then sold much under value, and the unlawful proceeds are invested in Auvergne.
Brisque, f. (thieves’), year, or “stretch.”
Brisques, f. pl. (gamblers’), the ace and figures in a pack of cards. When a player possesses all these in his game he is said to have “la triomphe;” (military) stripes.
Brisure, f. (thieves’), swindle, or “plant;” (printers’) temporary cessation of work. Grande ——, total stoppage of work.
Au Rappel, la pige dure six heures avec une brisure d’une demi-heure à dix heures.—Boutmy.
Brobèche, m. (popular), centime.
Brobuante, f. (thieves’), ring, “fawney.”
Broc, m. (thieves’), farthing, or “fadge.”
Brocante, m. (popular), old shoe.
Brocanter (familiar), to be pottering about.
Broche, f. (tradespeoples’), note of hand, or “stiff.”
Broches, f. pl. (popular), teeth, or “head rails.”
Brochet, m. (popular), pit of the stomach, for bréchet; women’s bully, or “ponce.”
Brocheton, m. (popular), young bully.
Brochure, f. (theatrical), printed play.
Brodage, m. (thieves’), writing.
Brodancher (thieves’), to write; to embroider. Tirants brodanchés, embroidered stockings.
Brodancheur, m. (thieves’), writer; —— en cage, scribe who for a consideration will undertake to do an illiterate person’s correspondence (termed écrivain public); —— à la plaque, aux macarons, or à la cymbale, notary public (an allusion to the escutcheon placed over a notary’s door).
Brodé, m. (thieves’), melon.
Broder (thieves’), to write; —— sur les prêts is said of a gamester who, having lent a colleague a small sum of money, claims a larger amount than is due to him.
Broderie, f. (thieves’), writing.
Pas de broderie, par exemple, tu connais le proverbe, les écrits sont des mâles, et les paroles sont des femelles.—Vidocq, Mémoires.
Brodeur, m. (thieves’), writer; also a gamester who claims a larger sum than is due to him.
Broque, m. (thieves’), farthing. Il n’y a ni ronds, ni herplis, ni broque en ma felouse. I haven’t got a sou, or a farthing, in my pocket.
Broquillage, m. (thieves’), theft which consists in substituting paste diamonds for the genuine article which a jeweller displays for the supposed purchaser’s inspection.
Broquille, f. (theatrical), nothing. Used in the expression, Ne pas dire une ——, not to know a single word of one’s part; (thieves’) a ring, or “fawney;” a minute.
Broquilleur, m., broquilleuse, f. (thieves’), thief who robs jewellers by substituting paste diamonds for the genuine which are shown to him as to a bonâ-fide purchaser.
Brosse (popular), no; nothing; —— pour lui! he shan’t have any!
Brosser (familiar), se —— le ventre, to go without food, and, in a figurative sense, to be compelled to do without something.
Brosseur, m. (artists’), one who paints numerous pictures of very large dimensions. Rubens was a “brosseur;” (military) flatterer, one who “sucks up.”
Brouce, f. (popular), thrashing, “whopping.”
Brouf, m. (codfishers’), wind blowing from the main.
Brouillard, m. (popular), chasser le ——, to have a morning drop of spirits, “dewdrop.” Etre dans le ——, to be “fuddled,” or tipsy. Faire du ——, to smoke, “to blow a cloud.”
Brouille, f., series of pettifogging contrivances which a lawyer brings into play to squeeze as much profit as he can out of a law affair.
Brouillé, adj. (familiar), avec la monnaie, penniless, “hard up;” —— avec sa blanchisseuse, with linen not altogether of a snow-white appearance; —— avec l’orthographe, a bad speller.
Broussailles, f. pl. (popular), être dans les ——, to be tipsy, “obfuscated.” See Pompette.
Brouta, m. (Saint-Cyr school), speech. From the name of a professor who was a good elocutionist.
Broute, f. (popular), bread, “tommy.”
Brouter (popular), to eat, “to grub.” The expression is used by Villon, and is scarcely slang.
Brouteur sombre, m. (popular), desponding, melancholy man, “croaker.”
Broyeur de noir en chambre (familiar), literary man who writes on melancholy themes.
Bruant (Breton), cock; egg.
Bruantez (Breton), hen.
Bruge, m. (thieves’), locksmith.
Brugerie, f., locksmith’s shop.
Brûlage, m. (familiar), the act of being ruined, “going to smash.”
Brûlant, m. (thieves’), fire; hearth.
Brûlé, m. and adj. (popular), failure of an undertaking; (familiar) Il doit de l’argent partout il est —— dans le pays, he owes money to everybody, his credit is gone. C’est un article ——, an article which will no longer sell. L’épicier est ——, the grocer refuses any more credit. Un politicien ——, a politician whose influence is gone. Un auteur ——, an author who has spent himself, no longer in vogue. Une fille brûlée, a girl who in spite of assiduous attendance at balls, &c., has failed to obtain a husband. Une affaire brûlée, an unsuccessful undertaking, or spoilt by bad management. Un acteur ——, an actor who for some reason or other can no longer find favour with the public.
Brûlée, f. (popular), severe thrashing; defeat; hurried and unlawful auction for contracts.
Brûler (theatrical), à la rampe is said of an actor who performs as if he were alone, and without regard to the common success of the play, or his colleagues; —— du sucre, to obtain applause. (Popular) Brûler, abbreviation of brûler la cervelle, to blow one’s brains out. Fais le mort ou je te brûle, don’t budge, or I blow your brains out. En —— une, to smoke, “to blow a cloud.” (Thieves’) Brûler le pégriot, to obliterate all traces of a theft or crime. Ne —— rien, to suspect nothing.
Brûleur, m. (theatrical), de planches, spirited actor.
Brusquer (gamesters’), la marque, to mark more points than have been scored, when playing cards.
Brutal, m. (familiar), cannon.
Brutifier (popular), to make one stupid by dint of upbraiding or badgering him.
Brution, m. (students’), cadet of the “Prytanée Militaire de la Flèche,” a Government school for the sons of officers.
Brutium, m., “Prytanée Militaire de la Flèche.” From Brutus, probably on account of the strict discipline in that establishment.
Brutus, m. (thieves’), Brittany.
Bruyances, f. pl. (familiar), great puffing up in newspapers or otherwise.
Bu, adj. (popular), in liquor, “tight.” See Pompette.
Bûche, f. Literally log; (tailors’) article of clothing. Coller sa —— au grêle, to remit a piece of work to the master. Temps de ——, worktime. (Popular) Bûche, lucifer match; (thieves’) —— flambante, or plombante, lucifer match.
Bûcher (familiar), to work hard, “to sweat;” to belabour, “to lick.” (Popular) Se ——, to fight, “to slip into one another.”
Bûcherie, f. (popular), fight, “mill.”
Bûcheur, m. (familiar), one who works hard, “a swat.”
Buen-retiro, m. (familiar), private place of retirement; (ironically) latrines, or “West Central.”
Buffet, m. (popular), avoir le —— garni, to have had a hearty meal; —— vide, to be fasting, to have nothing in the “locker.” Bas de ——, see Bas. Remouleur de ——, organ-grinder.
Buif, m. (military), shoemaker.
Bull-Park, m. (students’), Bullier’s dancing-rooms, situated near the Luxembourg, patronized by the students of the Quartier Latin, but invaded, as most places of a similar description now are, by the protectors of gay girls.
Buquer (thieves’), to commit a robbery at a shop under pretence of asking for change; (popular) to strike, a corruption of the slang term bûcher.
Vous avez dit dans votre interrogatoire devant Monsieur le Juge d’instruction: J’ai buqué avec mon marteau.—Gazette des Tribunaux.
Bureau arabe, m. (soldiers’ in Algeria), absinthe mixed with “orgeat,” a kind of liquor made with almonds.
Burettes, f. pl. (thieves’ and popular), pistols, “barking irons.” Literally phials.
Burlin, burlingue, m. (popular), office; desk. For bureau.
Busard, m., buse, f., buson, m. (familiar and popular), dull, slow, thick-witted man, “blockhead.”
Bustingue (thieves’), lodging house, “dossing ken.”
Bute, butte, or bute à regret, f. (thieves’), guillotine. Monter à la ——, to be guillotined.
Buté, adj. (thieves’), guillotined; murdered. See Fauché.
Ils l’ont buté à coups de vingt-deux.—E. Sue. (They killed him by stabbing him.)
Buter (thieves’), to kill, to guillotine; to execute.
On va le buter, il est depuis deux mois gerbé à la passe.—Balzac. (He is going to be executed, he was sentenced to death two months ago.)
Buteur (thieves’), murderer; executioner. See Taule.
Butin, m. (soldiers’), equipment.
Butre (thieves’), dish.
Buvailler (popular), to drink little or slowly.
Buvailleur or buvaillon, m. (popular), a man who cannot stand drink.
Buverie, f. (common), a beerhouse, termed brasserie. From the old word beuverie.
Buveur d’encre, m. (soldiers’), any military man connected with the administration; clerk, or “quill-driver.”
L’expression de buveurs d’encre ne s’applique strictement qu’aux engagés volontaires qu’on emploie dans les bureaux, où ils échappent aux rigueurs du service, sous prétexte qu’ils ont une main superbe.—F. de Reiffenberg, La Vie de Garnison.