it has been generally adopted in an idiomatic sense to signify a stunning blow; an overwhelming argument, or a cool reception.
1834. Crockett, Tour Down East, 16. A gentleman at dinner asked me for a toast; and supposing he meant to have some fun at my expense, I concluded to go ahead, and give him and his likes a BLIZZARD.
1871. De Vere, Americanisms, p. 443. Blizzard, a term referred back to the German Blitz, means in the West a stunning blow or an overwhelming argument.
1884. G. A. S[ala], in Ill. L. News, Feb. 23, p. 171, col. 2. Blizzard. The philologers in American Slang refer back to the German blitz; and its original meaning in the Western States seems to have been a stunning blow or an overwhelming argument. In the Eastern States a sudden set-in of severe frost is called a 'cold snap.' Query, how many 'cold snaps' does it take to make a 'BLIZZARD'?
1888. San Francisco News Letter. I should like to have seen the Colonel's face when he got that very cold, BLIZZARDY letter. I bet that if Minnie had been near him he would have slapped her real hard.
Bloak.—See Bloke.
Bloat, subs. (American thieves').—1. A drowned body.
2. A drunkard. The simile which groups the two is, perhaps, not far wrong. [Probably from BLOAT, an adjective signifying puffed, swollen, inflated. Bloat was also formerly in use in England as a contemptuous name for a human being.]
Bloated Aristocrat, subs. (familiar).—An opprobrious epithet for a man swollen with the pride of rank or wealth; also a general sobriquet applied by 'the masses' to 'the classes.' 'Bloated' has long been employed in a similar sense. Swift spoke of a certain statesman as 'a bloated minister' [1731].
1861. Thackeray, Adventures of Philip, I., p. 101. What a BLOATED ARISTOCRAT Thingamy has become since he got his place!
1863. G. A. Sala, Breakfast in Bed, essay I., p. 17 (1864). Of the two most salient English gentlemen represented, one is a BLOATED ARISTOCRAT of a Baronet hopelessly in debt, the other a rapid brainless nobleman.
1869. M. Twain, Innocents Abroad, ch. x. We sat down finally, at a late hour, in the great Casino, and called for unstinted champagne. It is so easy to be BLOATED ARISTOCRATS where it costs nothing of consequence!
Bloater.—See My Bloater; also Mild Bloater.
Blob, verb (vagrants').—To talk; to 'patter.' [Probably a corrupted form of BLAB.] Beggars are of two kinds—those who SCREEVE (introducing themselves with a FAKEMENT, or false document) and those who BLOB, or state their case in their own truly 'unvarnished' language. [See, however, second quot.]
1851-61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 339. 'Of professional beggars there are two kinds—those who "do it on the BLOB" (by word of mouth), and those who do it by "screeving," that is, by petitions and letters.'
1861. Whyte Melville, Good for Nothing, ch. xxvi. 'Five minutes more and we shall run into him,' he shouts, sitting well back on his horse, and urging him to his extreme pace, 'when he BLOBS like that he's getting beat. See how Canvas sticks to him, and the yellow dog hangs back waiting for the turn.'
Block, subs. (old).—A stupid person; a hard unsympathetic individual; one of mean, unattractive appearance. [A figurative sense of BLOCK, as of wood or stone.]
