| E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898. |
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stands for 300. Scit B. trecentum sibi cogn tum retin re. And, again, Et B. trecentum per se retinere videtur. But with a line above, it denotes 3,000. | 1 |
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For Becarre and Bemol (French for B sharp and B flat), see BECARRE. |
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Marked with a B (French), i.e. a poor thing. In the French language almost all personal defects begin with the letter B; e.g. bigle (squint-eyed), borgne (one-eyed), bossu (humpty), boiteux (lame), etc. | 2 |
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Not to know B from a battledoor. To be quite illiterate, not to know even his letters. Miege tells us that hornbooks used to be called battledoors. The phrase might therefore originally mean not to know the B of, from, or out of, your hornbook. But its more general meaning is “not able to distinguish one letter from another.” | 3 |
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“He knoweth not a B from a battledoore.”—Howell; English Proverbs. |
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“Distinguish a B from a battledore.”—Dekker: Guls Hornebook. |
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I know B from a Bull’s foot. Similar to the proverb, “I know a hawk from a hernshaw.” (See HAWK.) The bull’s parted hoof somewhat resembles a B. | 4 |
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“There were members who scarcely knew B from a bull’s foot.”—Brackenbridge: Modern Chivalry. |
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