Forgive me if I’m out of it today.  I stayed up waaaaay too late last night talking online and watching a movie on Netflix last night.  I love the Internet.

Today’s letter is B.  It’s the second letter of the alphabet and an important one.  Without it, we wouldn’t have beds, bottles of beer, barnacles, Beavis and Butthead or be able to yell “Booyah!”

Because the list is so short, I’ve included two words for each consonant / vowel combination.

Bacchanalia – wild revelry of Greek and Roman times, celebrating the god Bacchus (also known as Dionysus.  He was the little fat guy with the wine in the Fantasia centaur cartoon).  The word has come to mean any drunken hoopla with lots of food, sex, and rock-and-roll.

Balletomane – someone who is nuts over the ballet.  I have two of them in my family.

Beignets – a square doughnut sprinkled with powdered sugar, famous in New Orleans.  See the word link for a recipe.  If you try it, please bring a batch to my house for café-au-lait.

Bedaggle – to soil by dragging along the wet ground.  As in:  “Yarr, matey!  Don’t bedaggle me best jacket whilst yer doin’ laundry or I’ll keelhaul ye!”

Bhelpuri – an Indian snack made of puffed rice, potatoes, vegetables, chutney and sauce.  It’s so beloved by an online friend that he chose it as his screen name.

Bhut (Sanskrit) or bhoot – a ghost, the restless spirit of a deceased person.

Biretta – that funny square hat Catholic clergy sometimes wears.  See a picture of a priest rocking one here.

Bilious – of or pertaining to bile.  In medieval times, ill-tempered, thought to be the result of an excess of the bilious humor.  Used as an adjective to describe a crabby, unpleasant person.

Blarney – a town in County Cork, Ireland, home of Blarney Castle and the famous Stone of Eloquence, also known as the Blarney Stone.  It is said whoever kisses the stone will receive the gift of gab, referred to as blarney.  TripAdvisor has rated it the world’s most unhygienic attraction, due to the estimated 400,000 sets of lips pressing against it every year.

Blowback – in forensics, refers to a vacuum effect created upon the discharge of a firearm, which can pull bits of material into the barrel.  Blood or tissue from a close contact gunshot wound would be a good clue for your fictional detective to find in a murder weapon.

BMX (bicycle motocross) – an extreme sport consisting of grown people riding teeny stunt bikes over difficult terrain and attempting to not kill themselves.  Could be a great setting for an adventure / action story.

BM – we all know what this acronym stands for.  Eat your prunes.  As Dick Halloran (Scatman Crothers) says in Stephen King’s The Shining, “You got to be regular if you want to be happy!”

Bohemian – a starving artist / poet / writer / sculptor.   To be a true Bohemian, one must be steeped in poverty and involved in some form of artistic pursuit, thus leading an alternative lifestyle.  In fashion, refers to a form of hippie chic influenced by counterculture dress of the 1960s.

Borzoi – a large, beautiful dog also known as a Russian wolfhound.

Bracket – [Like this] in American English.  In British English, (like this).  Or {like these}!  Used to set text apart.  Also useful for making little pictures, like this:

^^()^^ a bat;

{-_-} a baby;

{[]-[]-[]-[]} an open concertina;

{[][][][]} a closed concertina.

Brobdingnagian – an adjective meaning of colossal size, originating from Jonathan Swift’s novel Gulliver’s Travels.  Lemuel Gulliver comes upon the land of Brobdingnag and discovers it is inhabited by giants.  Don’t ask me how to pronounce it.  If you know, please tell us in the comments.

Bucolic –  rustic, a country lifestyle usually.  Pertaining to the raising of cattle or a rural existence.

Buford Pusser – legendary Tennessee lawman who was the inspiration for the Walking Tall films.  This sheriff kicked ass and took names!  His home, located in Adamsville, TN, is now a museum.  Real people, especially those who have led unconventional or exciting lives, provide writers with inspiration all the time.

Bwahaha! – common Internet expression of villainous amusement in forums and chatrooms.  I should do an Internet expressions list one of these days.

Bwana (Swahili) – a form of respectful address, often from a servant or underling to his boss or master.

Byline – the line under the title that says who wrote a piece.  Like this:  “Catching Sea Monsters at the River Mouth, by Estuary Fisher.”

‘Bye – short for “Goodbye,” and what I will say now that we are done.  See you next time!