bub
A term of familiar address; bubba; bubby.
Noun
- A term of familiar address; bubba; bubby.
- So he changed his brusque manner, and inquired, in a tone which was intended to be extremely conciliatory : ‘ What′s your name, bub ? ’ ‘ The last one, Sir ? ’ asked bub, looking up. - 1857, T. B. Aldrich, What Jedd...
- 1857, Clara Augusta, Mrs. Peter Dame, George R. Graham, Graham′s Illustrated Magazine, Volume 50, page 398, Mrs. Peter filled her pocket with the cherries — “ Victoria and bub are so fond of them!” and we scrambled into...
- A young brother; a little boy; a familiar term of address for a small boy.
Origin
Either a corruption of brother, a modification of bud, or a borrowing from Pennsylvania German Bub or Southern German Bub (as was spoken in various communities in America before the early 20th century), ultimately thought to be derived from Proto-Germanic *bō- (“close [male] relation”) and thus cognate to English boy and babe. Other probable cognates West Frisian bobbe, German Bube (“boy”), dialectal Swedish babbe (“little boy”), English babe, baby, and bully, Dutch boef (“mischievous lad, rascal”), Middle Low German bôve, and Icelandic bófi.
Forms
Derived
Noun abbreviation, alt of
- Clipping of bubble.
- Clipping of bubbly; champagne.
- You find me in da club, bottle full of bub - 2003, “In da Club”, in Get Rich or Die Tryin', performed by 50 Cent:
- Out in the club and I'm sippin' that bub / And you're not gonna reach my telephone - 2010, “Telephone”, performed by Lady Gaga:
Origin
Shortened from bubble and bubbly.
Forms
Noun historical, slang
- An alcoholic malt liquor, especially beer.
- Bub is made from ground barley and strong worts, and sometimes from strong small worts from the coolers, properly blended and boiled with some hops, in the proportion of one pound to a barrel of worts. - 1838, Samuel...
- "You can't remember your *name*? Heh. Well, NEXT time you spend a night in this berg, go easy on the bub." - 1999 October 12, Black Isle Studios, quoting Morte, Planescape: Torment, Interplay Entertainment:
Origin
Probably imitative of the sound of drinking.
Derived
Noun slang
- A woman's breast.
- ‘Mr. Blanford, I esteem that there is nothing more sublime in nature than a glimpse of an English lady's bubs.’ - 1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance (Avignon Quintet), Penguin, published 2004, page 631:
Origin
Contraction of bubby.
Forms
Noun Australia, slang
- A baby.
Origin
Perhaps from Northern dialectal English bab, from Middle English bab, a variant of babe (“babe, baby”).
Forms
Verb
- To throw out in bubbles; to bubble.
- We passed on so far forth till we saw Rude Acheron, a loathsome lake to tell, That boils and bubs up swelth as black as hell - 1563, Thomas Sackville, The Induction: