In the singular form the lexicon of a particular subject is all the terms associated with it. The lexicon of a person or group is all the words they commonly use. As a plural noun, a lexicon is an alphabetical list of the words in a language or the words associated with a particular subject. To distinguish lexicon from a dictionary, it is an alphabetical list of the words in a language or the words associated with a particular subject.
These examples are a mix of what one might hear upon the lips of the aristocracy, as well as examples of Cant used upon London’s streets and those terms used by farmers and like in the country.
Boatswain – a warrant officer between ordinary seamen and commissioned officers; he oversaw the sails and rigging upon a ship
boarding school – street name for a prison or house of corrections, especially when referring to Bridewell or Newgate
bob – slang for a shilling; The insulting term ‘two-bob’ means someone who is worthless, as in ‘Worth Two-Bob’
bob – a shoplifter’s assistant; one who receives and carries off stolen goods
bobeche – usually glass collar on a candle socket to catch drippings or on a candlestick or chandelier to hold suspended glass prisms.
bobbish – smart or clever
bog house – the necessary house; and outhouse; the use of the word ‘bog’ to refer to the toilet dates back to 1789, when it took the form ‘boghouse’. Bog house comes from the British slang meaning to defecate, so when you go the bog, you really are being quite literal!
bog lander – slang for an Irishman, for Ireland is famous for its large number of bogs
Bond Street – a fashionable shopping area in London’s West End
bones – dice
boosey – drunk
boot – where luggage was placed in coach
boot catcher – the servant at an inn who business it is to clean the boots of the guests
bootjack – a device used to remove boots
boots – the youngest officer in a regimental mess, whose duty it is to skink, that is, to stir the fire, snuff the candles, and ring the bell
borachio – a skin holding wine, commonly a goat’s; also a nickname for a drunkard
bordello – a bawdy house
bore – a tedious and tiresome person who bores his listeners with uninteresting tales
bothered (or both-eared) – being talked to by different persons at the same time
bottle-headed – devoid of wit
boung – a slang word for a purse; formerly purses were worn at the girdle; therefore, a boung nipper was the thief who cut the string to steal the purse
bowsprit- the nose, from its being the most projecting part of the human face, as the bowsprit is of a ship
Bow Street Runners – created by the novelist Henry Fielding and his brother John in 1750, the Runners served as detectives; they received fees and rewards for their work – “The Bow Street Runners were the first professional police force, organised in London by magistrate and author Henry Fielding in 1749. The group would end up successfully solving and preventing crimes until 1839 when the force was disbanded in favour of the Metropolitan Police, leaving behind a legacy for modern-day policing.”
Brace – The Brace tavern; a room in the southeast corner of the King’s Bench, for the convenience of the prisoners residing thereabouts. Beer purchased sold for a halfpenny per pot in advance. It was kept by two brothers with the surname of Partridge.
bracket-faced – ugly; hard-featured
bragget – mead and ale sweetened with honey
braggadocia – a vain-glorious fellow
bran-faced – freckled, as in he was christened by a baker who sprinkled bran over him
brandy-faced – red-faced, as in drinking too much brandy; just as “wine” is Greek slang for “fish,” “brandy” is Latin for “goose,” likely because most drank a dram of brandy to settle his stomach after eating goose, which easily caused someone to burp after eating it
bray – so called after the vicar of Bray for one who frequently changes his principles; a satirical 18th-century song, “The Vicar of Bray“, recounts the career of a vicar of Bray, Berkshire, towards the end of this period and his contortions of principle in order to retain his ecclesiastic office despite the changes through the course of several monarchs from Charles II to George I.
The generally known form of the song appears to have been based on an earlier version, “The Religious Turncoat; Or, the Trimming Parson”. The melody is taken from the 17th-century folk melody “Country Gardens” which in turn was used in The Quaker’s Opera, first printed in London in 1728, a three-act farce based on the story of Jack Sheppard which was performed at Bartholomew Fair. A parody of this parody song, “The American Vicar of Bray”, with the same chorus, was published in the 30 June 1779 edition of Rivington’s Royal Gazette, mocking the shifting loyalties of some American colonists during the American Revolutionary War. “The Vicar of Bray” is also referenced in the song “Parlour Songs” in the Stephen Sondheim musical, Sweeney Todd, although the song has been removed from more recent performances of that musical.
brazen-faced – bold; shameless; impudent
bread and butter fashion – one slice upon the other, as in John and his maid were caught lying bread and butter fashion; to argue or act agains one’s own interest; to know upon which side one’s bread is buttered, as in to know what is best; not having an interest in the matter or will not intermeddle, as in its no bread and butter of mine
bread – slang for “employment,” as in “I’m out of bread.”
bread basket – the stomach, a term used by boxers
break teeth words – hard words to pronounce
Breast Fleet – refers to Roman Catholics; a n appellation derived from their custom of beating their breasts in the confession of their sins
breeches – gentlemen’s pants or slang for a woman who governs over her husband; “By the turn of the 19th century, breeches, pantaloons and trousers worn by all men were sewn with a flap in front called a fall front. This flap was universally held in place by two or three buttons at the top. No belts were worn. Instead, breeches, pantaloons and trousers were held up by tight-fitting waists, which were adjusted by gusset ties in back of the waist. Seats were baggy to allow a man to rise comfortably from a sitting position. As waists rose to the belly button after 1810, suspenders were used to hold the garment up.”
Breeches Bible – an edition of the Bible printed in 1598, wherein Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together and made themselves “breeches” to wear
“The Geneva Bible is one of the most historically significant translations of the Bible into English, preceding the King James Version by 51 years. It was the primary Bible of 16th century English Protestantism and was used by William Shakespeare, Oliver Cromwell, John Knox, John Donne and others. It was one of the Bibles taken to America on the Mayflower. The Geneva Bible was used by many English Dissenters, and it was still respected by Oliver Cromwell’s soldiers at the time of the English Civil War, in the booklet The Souldiers Pocket Bible. [Note: Does this not explain why we consider extreme modesty to be “Puritanical”?]
“This version of the Bible is significant because, for the first time, a mechanically printed, mass-produced Bible was made available directly to the general public which came with a variety of scriptural study guides and aids (collectively called an apparatus), which included verse citations that allow the reader to cross-reference one verse with numerous relevant verses in the rest of the Bible, introductions to each book of the Bible that acted to summarize all of the material that each book would cover, maps, tables, woodcut illustrations and indices.
“Because the language of the Geneva Bible was more forceful and vigorous, most readers strongly preferred this version to the Great Bible of 1539.
“The Geneva Bible received the nickname “Breeches Bible,” based on its unique translation of Genesis Chapter 3, Verse 7. The text reads: “Then the eies of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed figge tree leaves together, and made themselves breeches.” Previous English Bibles, such as the 1530 Pentateuch translation of William Tyndale, the 1535 Coverdale Bible, and the 1539 Great Bible, used the word apurns/aprons in this place. In the King James Version of 1611, “breeches” was changed to “aprons”.
“Here are both the Geneva, Tyndale and the King James versions of Genesis 3:7 with spellings as in their originals (not modernized):
Bridewell – St. Bridget’s Well in London; a house of correction
Brighton – a seaside resort in East Sussex
Other Sources:
Every Woman Dreams... 
