The Dialect of the West of England; Particularly Somersetshire | Page 6

n._ To argue.
To Ar'gufy. _v. n._ To hold an argument; to argue.
Ascri'de. _adv._ Across; astride.

Aslen'. _adv._ Aslope.
Assu'e. _adj._ When a cow is let up in order that she may calve, she is
said to be _assue_--having no milk.
Ater. _prep._ After. _Goo ater'n_: go after him.
Athin. _adv._ Within.
Athout. _prep._ Without.
Auverdro. _v. a._ Overthrow.
Avaur', Avaur'en, Avaurn._prep._ Before.
Avoordin. _part._ Affording.
Avraur'. _adj._ Frozen; stiff with frost.
Awakid. _adj._ Awake; _awakid, Chaucer_.
To Ax. _v. a._ To ask; _ax, Chaucer_.
Ax'en. _s. pl._ Ashes.
Axing. _s._ and _part._ Asking; _axing, Chaucer_.
Ay'ir. _s._ Air.

B.
Back'sid. _s._ A barton.
Back'y. _s._ Tobacco.
Bad. _adv._ Badly.
Bade. _s._ Bed.
Ba'ginet. _s._ Bayonet.
Bai'ly. _s._ A bailiff; a superintendent of an estate.
Ball. _adj._ Bald.
Bal'let. _s._ Ballad.
Ball'rib. _s._ A sparerib.
To Bal'lirag. _v. a._ To abuse with foul words; to scold.
To Ban. _v. a._ To shut out; to stop.
To Bane. _v. a._ To afflict with a mortal disease; applied to sheep. See
to COATHE.
To Barenhond', To Banehond'. _v. n._ (used chiefly in the third person
singular) to signify intention; to intimate.
These words are in very common use in the West of England. It is
curious to note their gradation from Chaucer, whose expression is
Beren hem on hond, or _bare him on hand_; implying always, it
appears to me, the same meaning as I have given to the words above.
There is, I think, no doubt, that these expressions of Chaucer, which he

has used several times in his works, are figurative; when Chaucer tells
us he _beren hem, in hond,_ the literal meaning is, he carried it in, or
on, his hand so that it might be readily seen. "To bear on hand, to
affirm, to relate."--JAMIESON'S Etymological Scots Dictionary. But,
whatever be the meaning of these words in Chaucer, and at the present
time in Scotland, the above is the meaning of them in the west of
England.
Banes. _s. pl._ The banns of matrimony.
Ban'nin. _s._ That which is used for shutting out or stopping.
Ban'nut. _s._ A walnut. [Only used in northern parts of county.]
Barrow-pig. _s._ A gelt pig.
Baw'ker, Baw'ker-stone. _s._ A stone used for whetting scythes; a kind
of sand-stone.
To Becall'. _v. a._ To censure; to reprove; to chide.
Bee'äs, Bease. _s. pl. [Beasts]_ Cattle. Applied only to Oxen not
Sheep.
Bee-but, Bee-lippen. _s._ A bee-hive
Bee'dy. _s._ A chick.
Beedy's-eyes. _s.pl._ Pansy, love-in-idleness.
Beer. _s. See_ ALE.
Befor'n. _prep._ Before.
To Begird'ge, To Begrud'ge. _v. a._ To grudge; to envy.
LORD BYRON has used the verb begrudge in his notes to the 2nd
canto of Childe Harold.
Begor'z, Begum'mers. _interj._
These words are, most probably, oaths of asseveration. The last appears
to be a corruption of by godmothers. Both are thrown into discourse
very frequently: _Begummers, I ont tell; I cant do it begorz._
Begrumpled. _part._ Soured; offended.
To Belg. _v. n._ To cry aloud; to bellow.
Bell-flower. _s._ A daffodil.
To Belsh. _v. a._ To cut off dung, &c., from the tails of sheep.
Beneäpt. _part._ Left aground by the recess of the spring tides.
To Benge. _v. n._ To remain long in drinking; to drink to excess.
Ben'net. _v._ Long coarse grass.
Ben'nety. _adj._ Abounding in bennets.
Ber'rin. _s._ [burying] A funeral procession.

To Beskum'mer. _v. a._ To foul with a dirty liquid; to besmear.
To Bethink' _v. a._ To grudge.
Bettermost. _adj._ The best of the better; not quite amounting to the
best.
Betwat'tled. _part._ In a distressing and confused state of mind.
To Betwit'. _v. a._ To upbraid; to repeat a past circumstance
aggravatingly.
To Bib'ble. _v. n._ To drink often; to tope.
Bib'bler. _s._ One who drinks often; a toper.
Bil'lid. _adj._ Distracted; mad.
Billy. _s._ A bundle of wheat straw.
Bi'meby. _adv._ By-and-by; some time hence.
Bin. _conj._ Because; probably corrupted from, being.
Bin'nick. _s._ A small fish; minnow; _Cyprinus phloxinus._
Bird-battin. _s._ The catching of birds with a net and lights by night.
FIELDING uses the expression.
Bird-battin-net. _s._ The net used in bird-battin.
Birch'en. _adj._ Made of birch; relating to birch.
Bis'gee. _s._ (g hard), A rooting axe.
Bisky. _s._ Biscuit. The pronunciation of this word approximates
nearer to the sound of the French cuit ["twice baked"] the t being
omitted in this dialect.
To Bi'ver. _v. n._ To quiver; to shake.
Black-pot, _s._ Black-pudding.
Black'ymoor. _s._ A negro.
Blackymoor's-beauty. _s._ Sweet scabious; the musk-flower.
Blanker. _s._ A spark of fire.
Blans'cue. _s._ Misfortune; unexpected accident.
Blather. _s._ Bladder. To blather, _v. n._ To talk fast, and
nonsensically [_to talk so fast that bladders form at the mouth_]
Bleâchy. _adj._ Brackish; saltish: applied to water.
Blind-buck-and-Davy. _s._ Blind-man's buff. Blindbuck and have ye, is
no doubt the origin of this appellation for a well-known amusement.