Green’s Dictionary of Slang

() a lady who claims precedence at social gatherings; thus a self-ordained ‘great’ lady [Hind. ??? ???? (ba?? b?b?) , from ??? (ba??) great + ???? (b?b?) lady].

1807		G. Elliot in Minto Lord Minto in India (1880) 29: At table I have hitherto been allowed but one dish – namely the Burro Bebee, or lady of the highest rank, and to her, therefore, I am wedded, and care is taken that I should be a faithful husband.
1833		Asiatic Jrnl & Mthly Register Sept.-Dec. 193: [T]he vision of a brown muslin spotted with gold absorbed every faculty and arrested a due reply to the burra beebee, who had rescued this antiquated piece of raiment from the depths of some neglected wardrobe, apparently unconscious of the extraordinary sensation it would create.
1844		J.W. Kaye Peregrine Pultuney I 102: Mrs Potts a burra beebee — bless my soul, thinkl of that.
1843		G.W. Johnson Stranger in India I 148: I have heard of four burra bebees, who, in the olden times, daily took tiffin at each other’s houses, and drank a dozen of Hodgson’s pale ale before they retired from the table to their couches.
1844		Bell’s New Wkly Messenger 31 Mar. 6/1: The burra beebee is the great lady — whoever is handed in to dinner by the master of the house is the burra beebee for the occasion.
1848		J.H. Stocqueler Oriental Interpreter 44/2: BURRA-BEEBEE, or BURRA-MEM, a great lady; the appellation bestowed upon the female head of a house, or the wife of the principal personage at a station or presidency of India.
1856		J.W. Kaye Life and Correspondence of Major-General Sir John Malcolm 444: His criticisms upon Calcutta society – especially the burra-beebees, or great ladies of the settlement – were not very favorable.
1859		G.F. Atkinson Curry & Rice (3 edn) n.p.: But you really must call upon Mrs. Turmeric!—she is the Burra Beebee , the great lady of Kabob.
1886		see sense 1.

(Anglo-Ind.) a resounding silence, e.g. in the absence of the usual crowds of people .

1880		G. Aberigh-Mackay Serious Reflections (1881) 121: A Scotch accent would be no protection against this kind of thing; nothing short of a burra choop would avail in such extremities.
1890		Kipling ‘Letters on Leave’ in Pioneer (1909) 199: Leave season began some weeks ago, and there is a burra-choop along the streets that you could shovel with a spade. All the people that say they are everybody have gone.

the main breakfast of the day.

1858		R.B. Minturn From New York to Delhi 254: About ten, comes breakfast, known as burra hazree, or ‘great breakfast’ to distinguish it from chota hazree, or ‘little breakfast’ which consists of a cup of tea or coffee and a bit of toast taken before the parade. [...] The burra hazree usually includes meat or fish or fruit, and is often followed by a hookah.
1870		Letters from India and Kashmir (1874) 113: Seated under the wide verandah of this palace, cooled by a pleasant breeze, the Khansanagh provides burra hazri; and procures a guide to explore the adjoining edifices.
1886		Clarence and Richmond Examiner (Grafton, NSW) 27 Feb. 6/3: [orig. Indian text] This the Prince, with that disregard of danger which is one of his principal characteristics, refused to do, and quickly finished his burra hazri.
1896		Adelaide Obs. 7 Jan. 45/5: [orig. Indian text] Our tramp amid the ruins made us well able to appreciate a bath, and after that our ‘burra hazri,’ or proper breakfast, to which we sat down about 11 o'clock.
1906		Leader (Melbourne) 20 Jan. 30/2: [orig. Indian text] ‘Capital fellow, Concannon,’ said Captain Fraser to Captain Polhill as they walked across the compound to their burra-hazri.

(Angl-Ind.) a grand dinner [Hind. ??????? (ba??kh?n?), from ??? (ba??) large, great + ???? (kh?n?) food, eating].

1828		[C. D’Oyly] Tom Raw, The Griffin v: ‘And here,’ exclaimed another, ‘is an Impromptu on a Burra Conna.’.
1835		E. Roberts Scenes & Characteristics of Hindostan I 96: The burra khanas, as they are called, at Calcutta, certainly afford a festal display, in which the eye, if not the palate, must take pleasure.
1843		Bellew Memoirs of a Griffin I 186: The guests for the burra khana now began to arrive. Gigs, carriages, and palankeens, flambeaux, dancing lights [etc].
1848		‘J.H. Stocqueler’ Oriental Interpreter 44/2: BURRA-KHANAH, a great dinner. The word is universally applied to the feasts of the English residents in India, at which perfect hecatombs of meat are consumed. In India, as in England, a ‘Burrah Khana’ constitutes a great portion of the felicity of the people.
1859		G.F. Atkinson Curry & Rice (3 edn) n.p.: There, now, an invitation to dinner !—to a ‘Burra Khanah,’ literally a grand feed ; [...] They are invariably celebration feasts, to record some important domestic event, as the anniversary of their wedding, birthdays, and the like.
1861		Hills & Plains I 206: ‘Mrs. Kookrie is not a charming style of woman. I had no notion they gave burra khanas’.
1865		Hotten Slang Dict. 90: BURRA KHANAH, a great dinner. — Anglo-Indian.
1872		E. Braddon Life in India 142: One Anglo-Indian burra-khana is the counterpart of another, and, in many respects, very like the typical dinner-party of England.
1885		Times of India 2 July 1/3: [advert] THE ‘BURRA KHANA’ STOVE. Will cook a complete dinner—has large boiler. kettle. etc. We can confidently recommend this stove fur all purposes.
1893		Civil & Milit. Gaz. (Lahore) 26 July 1/4: The khana, I should have explained, was a very burra one, and there must have been some forty odd folk present.
1897		B.M. Croker Mr Jervis 106: [P]assers-by could always tell that the Brandes were at a ‘burra khana’ when they saw an upright little white figure sitting by the gatepost.
1909		Mrs E. Coates Burnt Offering 254: ‘It’s all very well for you! You haven’t got to deprive Mrs. Livingstone Hooper of a burra-khana at eight hours’ notice!’.

(Anglo-Ind.) a lady of the highest social rank; the principle lady of a household [Hind. ?????? (ba?? mem), from ??? (ba??) great + ??? (mem) lady, madam (from English); Crooke, in Hobson-Jobson (1903), gives the form ba?? mem, using the feminine form of the adjective ???(ba?? great].

1848		‘J.H. Stocqueler’ Oriental Interpreter 44/2: BURRA-BEEBEE, or BURRA-MEM, a great lady; the appellation bestowed upon the female head of a house, or the wife of the principal personage at a station or presidency of India.
1849		[Grant Colesworthey] Anglo-Indian Domestic Sketch 4: The salams of the domestics tendered to the ‘Burra Mem,’ – and the morning meal, as common to India, of boiled rice, fried fish, eggs, omelet, toast and tea.
1855		‘J.H. Stocqueler’ ‘The crime of colour’ in Patriotic Fund Jrnl 3 Feb. 130/2: ‘Burra mem (great lady) – she too treat my child like dog’.
1877		R.A. Sterndale Seonee 323: The collector’s spouse, who considers herself the Burra Mem, or leading lady of the place, in virtue of her husband’s position.
1880		S.S. Thorburn David Leslie II 298: ‘You are positively the Burri Mem now: no rival near your throne even, but Mrs Jones, and you are a greater mem than she is’.
1885		L. Emanuel Jottings [...] of a Bengal ‘qui hye’ 11: The grand, luxuriously indolent ‘Burrah Mem’ (great Lady) reclining on her spring-couch.
1890		Edith Cuthell Indian Idylls 128: Mrs. Splatter was the biggest lady in the Anglo-Indian station of Noluck. I am not, of course, alluding to her corporeal size, though that too was worthy of note, but to her social position. She was, to use the native term applied to her and her ilk, the ‘burra mem,’ or big woman.
1894		Civil & Milit. Gaz. (Lahore) 27 Oct. 1/4: Mrs Burra Mem, who with her husband commanded the little hill station of Rajabagh .
1903		W. Crooke in Yule & Burnell Hobson-Jobson 132/1: Nowadays Ba?? Mem is the term applied to the chief lady in a Station.
1905		A.S. Walker Beggar’s Wallet 249: ‘Why you not bringing missie safe back to Bombay? Why you letting missy stay ‘lone in Agra Hotel? The Burra mem calling ayah one bad woman, and sending her away,’ said the ayah, tearfully.
1913		Z.L. Cavalier Soul of the Orient 188: ‘Baloo, this Missie-sahib is coming out to India to be a burra mem [great lady]. What do you think of her, Baloo? She is nice, is she not?’.
1922		M. Diver Captain Desmond, V.C. 56: [G]reat pride [dwelt] in the heart of Parbutti, since Amar Singh had so far unbent as to prophesy that the Miss Sahib would without doubt become a Burra Mem before the end of her days.

(Anglo-Ind.) a lady of the highest social rank; the principle lady of a household [Hind. ??????-???? (ba?? mem-sahib), from ??? (ba??) great + ???-???? (mem-sahib) lady].

1880		G. Aberigh-Mackay Serious Reflections (1881) 215: A burra Mem Sahib will be imported red-hot from India, together with mosquitoes, snakes, and a mutton-club.
1893		J.D. Gordon Work & Play in India & Kashmir 157: Is it not written ‘Twice a year shall every unmarried man don his go-to-meeting toggery, and call upon every Burra Mem Sahib in the station?’ Yea, verily, and whilst he is about it he may as well do the Chota Mem Sahibs too, who are far more pleasant and amusing.
1897		B.M Croker Mr Jervis 88: The kitchen had been taken possession of by the majestic cook of a burra mem sahib, who was shortly expected, and the appetites of a couple of insignificant strangers must therefore be restrained.
1908		Dundee Courier 4 Feb. 7/2: There was a very large turnout of burra-sahibs, mem-sahibs, and assistants.
1922		F.S. Hallowes ‘The Enemy’ in Union Signal (IL) 23 Mar. 15/1: ‘Well, I’m second in the Civil Station. Some day you will be the Burri Mem Sahib. Ah! wait until you know a little more of life in India’.
1934		‘George Orwell’ Burmese Days (1986) 300: He bore a charmed life, and it was not only the handle to his name that saved him. There was something in his eye before which duns, burra memsahibs and even colonels quailed.
1949		Dundee Eve. Teleg. 4 July 6/3: ‘Where is the burra-mem-sahib. Musha?’ she suddenly askd him.

a large drink of whisky, typically a whisky and soda.

1888		Kipling ‘His Brother’s Keeper’ in Civil & Military Gaz. 7 Apr. (1909) 112: ‘Hi, bearer, do burra — burra whiskey-peg lao ’.
1915		Narracoorte Herald (SA 4 May 4/3: [orig. Indian text] Our first port of call was Colombo. It is a lovely spot, and typically eastern. A big whisky and a long iced soda is the usual drink there. It is called a ‘burra peg’ .
1922		Cairns Post (Qld) 22 July 11/2: [orig. Indian text] Mr. M. fell out of action into the alleyway, w’ere ’e ’eld a very red ’andkerchif to ’is nose wiv one ’and, and a burra peg to ’is mouf with the other.
1937		M. Anand Two Leaves and a Bud 89: ‘Two burra pegs – Charles, you will have one?’ Macara said.
1939		Dly Teleg. (Sydney) 8 July 9/5: It is the country where railway trains run on three gauges [...] and where a double whisky and soda is called a burra-peg .
1954		C. Mackenzie Ben Nevis Goes East 26: ‘I beg pardon, sir?’ said the waiter, who was arriving with the three burra pegs.

(orig. Anglo-Ind.) a man of the highest social rank; the principle man of a household [??????? (ba?? sahib), from ??? (ba??) great + ???? (sahib) sir].

[1775		W. Bolts Appendix to Considerations on India Affairs, Part II 194: Alluding to the Hindostan expression Burra Saheb, the Governor, then Harry Verlest, Esq.].
[1781		Hicky’s Bengal Gaz. 28 July - 4 Aug. n.p.: She seemed amaz’d wah wah Burrah Saib hi!, was her exclamation].
1793		A. Dirom Narrative of Campaign in India II 192: The party of the enemy on passing the park of artillery [...] asked some of the camp followers, for the Burra Saib, or commander.
1811		Annual Register XLIII 412/1: His first wife was Seydanee Saheba, the daughter of Burra Saheb, a religious person at Colar, who bore him three sons.
1828		[C. D’Oyly] Tom Raw, The Griffin 43: So Mrs. Y. is led, and Mr. Y., / As burrah saib, the hostess fair escorts, / Sir Martin, next in seniority, / To the next dame upon the list resorts, / Just as they settle rank in foreign courts.
1844		New Sporting Mag. (London) Dec. 398: He [i.e. a boar] was divided into portions, and despatched piecemeal in presents to the ladies and burrah sahibs.
1855		Delhi Sketch Bk 1 Apr. 39/1: Teach me what's the way to tickle / This new Burra Sahib of ours.
1859		Stonehaven Jrnl 26 May 2/6: Burra-Sahib Major Meade Tantia appears to have considerable respect.
1860		Shields Dly Gaz. 27 Sept. 6/6: The domestic, who is standing [...] behind each English guest [...] cannot think otherwise than that these burrasahibs are inexplicable.
1865		W.W. Knollys Misses and Matrimony 92: ‘I sold one to the Burra Sahib’s mem yesterday for two hundred rupee’.
1875		Punch 30 Oct. 174/2: The next day I shall take H.R.H. to the Begum’s Restauration, where he will be received by the Burra Sahib (or head waiter), attended by his Chokees (i.e., the other waiters in white chokers).
1889		Lady Dufferin Our Viceregal Life in India 34: At any rate a few of the great lords and ladies (Burra sahib and Burra mem Sahib) did speak to me without being driven to it [Y&B].
1891		Civil & Milit. Gaz. (Lahore) 25 Aug. 5/2: [T]he rustic occupant, who, unabashed, confided in us that he was breeding snakes for the burra sahib.
1908		Dundee Courier 4 Feb. 7/2: There was a very large turnout of burra-sahibs, mem-sahibs, and assistants.
1924		E.M. Forster Passage to India 28: ‘It’s decent of the Burra Sahib,’ chattered Ronny, much gratified at the civility that had been shown to his guests.
1932		Portsmouth Eve. News 11 Jan. 4/6: The great error of ‘Burra-Sahib’ and too many others is their strange [...] inability to distinguish between East and West.
1987		V.T. Vittachi Brown Sahib (Revisited) 35: These brown sahibs spoke only to the white burra sahibs and their peers at their own club.
2001		Times of India 5 Sept. 🌐 ‘Official’ cars ferrying the wives and kids of the burra sahibs may soon be a thing of the past as the state government is looking for ways to deprive the UP officials of their fleet of cars.
2001		Times of India 14 Dec. 🌐 When the chief minister of UP decided on a ‘burra saheb’s night out, 80 senior IAS officers dutifully fanned out into rural areas for ratri bhraman, barring a few who had specially requested their exemption.

(Anglo-Ind.) a large person, animal, or thing.

1854		Delhi Sketch Bk 1 July 82/2: ‘Ha-an, sahib,’ says he. ‘Burra-wallah,’ says I.
1863		Jrnl Horticulture (London) 14 July 32/2: These [small chickens] are called ‘chotah wallahs’ (little fellows), and are used for curry [...] The ‘burra wallahs’ (large fellows), are about the size of a small game hen.
1893		E.L.L. Arnold On the Indian Hills 342: [T]he coolies on the estate, that had only heard half the story, firmly believed that the ‘burra-wallah’ disappeared in some supernatural way .
1894		Launceston Examiner (Tas.) 16 Feb. 7/3: [M]y somali assured me in broken Hindustani that I had hit the ‘burra walla’ - big one - I was not at all certain that such was the case.
1902		McNeill & Dixon In Pursuit of the ‘Mad’ Mullah 228: [I]t would make their Shikaris much more cautious about telling their masters that the kudu before them was a ‘burra wallah’ – i.e., a big one.
1929		T. & K. Roosevelt East of the Sun and West of the Moon 156: Rahima Loon nudged me and whispered: “Burra wallah!” (big fellow). They were lying around a large rock.