betty
nomverbecourant dans les dialogues
- //ˈbɛti//
A short bar used by thieves to wrench doors open; a jimmy.
nom
- 1
argotA short bar used by thieves to wrench doors open; a jimmy.
No modern Lycæum vvill ever equal thy Glory, […] deſcribing the povverful Betty, or the artful Picklock, […]
- 2
argotA picklock, skeleton key; a tool for opening locks.
After a quick meal at a tea shop, we found ourselves in the hallway at the Midland Hotel, where he removed a skeleton key, or “betty” as he called it, from his pocket and inserted it in the keyhole. […] Once they were out of sight, I fumbled about with the betty for a few moments before the lock finally clicked open.
- 3
archaïqueA man who performs tasks that traditionally belong to a woman; (originally) an effeminate or gay man.
- 4
archaïqueA pear-shaped bottle covered with straw, in which olive oil is sometimes brought from Italy; a Florence flask.
On olive oil in casks, twenty cents per gallon; olive salad oil in bottles or betties, thirty per centum ad valorem
- 5
A baked dessert made with alternating layers of sweetened fruit and buttered bread crumbs.
A pie-size betty is traditional, but if you like, assemble the recipe in individual ovenproof ramekins.
- 6
argotAn attractive woman; a babe.
Isn't my house classic? The columns date all the way back to 1972. Wasn't my Mom a betty? She died when I was just a baby. A fluke accident during a routine liposuction. I don't remember her, but I like to pretend she still watches over me.
Étymologie
From Betty (nickname for “Elizabeth”). In thieves’ cant a tool for wrenching locked doors is also called a Bess (from “Elizabeth”) or a Jenny. The “attractive woman” sense may relate to the character Betty Rubble in the cartoon The Flintstones.
verbe
- 1
To pick a lock, to open with a betty.
“Well then,” he said. “Let’s say you can betty the lock, hang on a rope, and break the drum, and then lock up again with nobody the wiser. How do I get on in the first place, past the Scots jack, with his sharp cool?”
The forty quid! Gone! ’Ow could she ’ave gotten in there? The peter ain’t broke, no sign of it bein’ bettied, and I the only one w’ the key.
- 2
archaïqueTo be overly attentive to someone or something.
“I’m perfectly well, thank you, Miss Hester,” she said, coldly. “I detest being bettied.”
If anything on earth is reprehensible in a man and disgusting to a woman, it is to have said man hen-hussying and bettying about the kitchen
Formes
- pluriel
- betties
- passé
- bettied
- participe passé
- bettied
- participe présent
- bettying
- 3ᵉ personne du singulier
- betties
betty · A short bar used by thieves to wrench doors open; a jimmy.
Betty · A diminutive of the female given name Elizabeth.between · In the position or interval that separates (two things), or…Bev · A diminutive of the female given names Beverly and Beverley.