Chapter Bluff Harry to Boaz of B by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Bluff Harry to Boaz

Bluff Harry or Hal. Henry VIII., so called from his bluff and burly manners (1491, 1509-1547.)

Blunderbore A giant, brother of Cormoran, who put Jack the Giant Killer to bed and intended to kill him; but Jack thrust a billet of wood into the bed, and crept under the bedstead. Blunderbore came with his club and broke the billet to pieces, but was much amazed at seeing Jack next morning at breakfast- time. When his astonishment was abated he asked Jack how he had slept. “Pretty well,” said the Cornish hero, “but once or twice I fancied a mouse tickled me with its tail.” This increased the giant's surprise. Hasty pudding being provided for breakfast, Jack stowed away such huge stores in a bag concealed within his dress that the giant could not keep pace with him. Jack cut the bag open to relieve “the gorge,” and the giant, to effect the same relief, cut his throat and thus killed himself. (See Giants .)

Blunderbuss A short gun with a large bore. (Dutch, donderbus, a thunder-tube.)

Blunt Ready money.

Blunt (Major - General). An old cavalry officer, rough in speech, but very brave and honest, of good understanding, and a true patriot. (Shadwell: The Volunteers.)

Blurt out (To). To tell something from impulse which should not have been told. To speak incautiously, or without due reflection. Florio makes the distinction, to “flurt with one's fingers, and blurt with one's mouth.”

Blush At the first blush. At the first glance; speaking off-hand without having given the subject mature deliberation. The allusion is to blushing at some sudden or unexpected allusion; the first time the thought has flashed into your mind.
   To put to the blush. To make one blush with shame, annoyance, or confusion.

“England might blush in 1620, when Englishmen trembled at a fool's frown [i.e. James I.], but not in 1649, when an enraged people cut off his son's [Charles I.] head.”- Wendell Phillips: Orations, p. 419.

Bo or Boh, in old Runic, was a fierce Gothic captain, son of Odin. His name was used by his soldiers when they would take the enemy by surprise. (Sir William Temple.)
   From this name comes our bogie, a hobgoblin or little Bo. Gifford Castle is called Bo Hall, being said to have been constructed by bogies or magic. Compare Greek, boi, bah! verb, boaô, to shout out; Latin, böo, to bellow like a bull (bos). (See Bogie.)
   You cannot say Bo! to a goose- i.e. you are a coward who dare not say bo! even to a fool. When Ben Jonson was introduced to a nobleman, the peer was so struck with his homely appearance that he exclaimed, “What! are you Ben Jonson? Why, you look as if you could not say Bo! to a goose.” “Bo!” exclaimed the witty dramatist, turning to the peer and making his bow. (Latin, bo-are; Greek, boa-ein, to cry aloud.)

Bo-tree A corruption of bodhi or bodhiruma (the tree of wisdom), under which Sakyamuni used to sit when he concocted the system called Buddhism.

Boa Pliny says the word is from bos (a cow), and arose from the supposition that the boa sucked the milk of cows.

Boanerges (sons of thunder). A name given to James and John, the sons of Zebedee, because they wanted to call down “fire from heaven” to consume the Samaritans for not “receiving” the Lord Jesus. (Luke ix. 54; see Mark iii. 17.)

Boar The Boar. Richard III.; so called from his cognisance.

“The wretched, bloody, and usurping boar
That spoiled your summer fields and fruitful vines;
... This foul swine ... lies now ...
Near to the town of Leicester, as we learn.”
Shakespeare: Richard III., v. 3.

   The bristled Baptist boar. So Dryden denominates the Anabaptists in his Hind and Panther.

“The bristled Baptist boar, impure as he [the ape],
But whitened with the foam of sanctity,
With fat pollutions