Chapter Bethlemenites to Bias of B by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Bethlemenites to Bias

Bethlemenites (4 syl.). Followers of John Huss, so called because he used to preach in the church called Bethlehem of Prague.

Betrothed (The ). One of the Tales of the Crusaders, by Sir Walter Scott, 1832. Lady Eveline Berenger is the betrothed of Sir Damian de Lacy, whom she marries.

Better My better half. A jocose way of saying my wife. As the twain are one, each is half. Horace calls his friend animæ dimidium meæ. (1 Odes iii. 8.)
   To be better than his word. To do more than he promised.
   To think better of the matter. To give it further consideration; to form a more correct opinion respecting it.

Better kind Friend, etc Better kind friend than friend kind. Friend is a corruption of fremd, meaning a stranger. Better [a] kind stranger than a kinsman who makes himself a stranger, or an estranged kinsman.
   Better off. In more easy circumstances.

Bettina A mascotte who always brought good luck wherever she went. Though a mere peasant, she is taken to the Prince of Piombino's palace of Laurent, to avert his ill-luck; but by marrying Pippo (a shepherd) she loses her gift. However, the prince is reminded that the children of a mascotte are hereditary mascottes, and makes Bettina promise that her first child shall be adopted by the prince. (See Mascotte. )

Bettina The name under which Elizabeth Brentano translated into English Goethe's Letters to a Child in 1835. She was the wife of Ludwig Achim von Arnim, and it was her correspondence with Goethe which were the Letters to a Child referred to. Elizabeth Brentano was born 1785.

Betty A name of contempt given to a man who interferes with the duties of female servants, or occupies himself in female pursuits; also called a “Molly.”

Betty A skeleton key; the servant of a picklock. Burglars call their short crowbars for forcing locks Jennies and Jemmies. “Jenny” is a “small engine,” i.e. 'ginie, and Jemmy is merely a variant.

Betubium Dumsby, or the Cape of St. Andrew, in Scotland.

“The north-inflated tempest foams
O'er Orka's and Betubium's highest peak.”
Thomson: Autumn, 891, 2.

Between Between hay and grass. Neither one thing nor yet another; a hobbledehoy, neither a man nor yet a boy.
   Between cup and lip. (See Slip.)
   Between Scylla and Charybdis. Between two equal dangers; on the horns of a dilemma. (See Charybdis.)
   Between two fires. Between two dangers. In war, an army fired upon from opposite sides is in imminent danger.
   Between two stools you come to the ground: “Like a man on double business bound, I stand in pause where I shall first begin, and both neglect.” He who hunts two hares leaves one and loses the other.” Simul sorbere ac flare non possum. The allusion is to a children's game called “The Ambassador,” also a practical joke at one time played at sea when the ship crossed the line. Two stools are set side by side, but somewhat apart, and a cloth is covered over them. A person sits on each stool to keep the cloth taut, and the ambassador is invited to sit in the middle; but, as soon as he is seated, the two rise and the ambassador comes to the ground.
   Between you and me (French, entrenous). In confidence be it spoken. Sometimes, Between you and me and the gate-post. These phrases, for the most part, indicate that some ill-natured remark or slander is about to be made of a third person, but occasionally they refer to some offer or private affair. “Between ourselves” is another form of the same phrase.

Betwixt and Between Neither one nor the other, but somewhere between the two. Thus, grey is neither white nor black, but betwixt and between the two.

Beurre Avoir beurre sur la tête. To be covered with crimes. Taken from a Jewish saying, “If you have butter on your head (i.e. have stolen butter and put it in your cap), don't go into the sun.” (Vidocq: Voleurs, vol. i. p. 16.)
   J'y suis pour mon beurre. Here beurre means argent: I paid for it through the nose. Beurre or butter has the same relation to food as wealth has to civil life; it does not take the place of it, and