bit of (a), n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

bit of (a) n.

[SE bit]

1. a good example of, a specimen of, e.g. bit of a horseman.

1731		Proceedings at Sessions (City of London) Dec. 23/2: I wanted a Bit of that same – as any other Man may – and so I invited her to the Sport, and lay with her.
1790		‘A Bit of the Brown’ Garland of New Songs (6) 7: I’ll no more bones be picking, / I will have a bit of brown, / Or Ma’am she knaps a kicking.
1797		‘T.B. Junr.’ Pettyfogger Dramatized I ii: Aye, he’s a nice bit of parchment! one of the best fellows in the world.
1802		R. Anderson ‘Nichol the Newsmonger’ Cumberland Ballads (1805) 7: The king’s meade a bit of a speech, / And gentlefowk say it’s a topper.
1822		Egan Life and Adventures of Samuel Hayward 69: At the ‘Free and Easies,’ when inclined for a look in and a bit of a chaunt, he was never backwards in throwing off a stave with applause.
1837		Marryat Snarleyyow I 18: That ere dog flies at me, if I take a bit o’ biscuit.
1838		W.N. Glascock Land Sharks and Sea Gulls II 111: We’ll put you in the way, if you fancies a bit o’ night bisness [sic].
1851		‘How Sally Hooter Got Snake-Bit’ in T.A. Burke Polly Peablossom’s Wedding 67: Forth sallied Mike with a ‘pocket full of rocks,’ and bent on a bit of a spree.
1889		Thomas Co. Cat. (Colby, KS) 26 Sept. 3/2: The old fellow had a nice bit o’ a hut nigh a quiet valley.
1899		C.J.C. Hyne Further Adventures of Captain Kettle 190: Skipper’s a bit of a methody.
1915		H.L. Wilson Ruggles of Red Gap (1917) 339: His lordship was by way of being a bit of a dog.
1933		E.A. Robertson Ordinary Families 243: Nice, only a bit of a bore if he gets on to archaeology.
1951		‘John Ross MacDonald’ Moving Target 110: He’s always been a bit of a stinker.
1962		B. McGhee Cut and Run (1963) 101: In addition to the ‘deuce’ sentence, Flash had come out of it with a bit of a sore face.
1967		J. Orton Diaries (1986) 2 May 148: All I wanted was a bit of a knock with Clive.
1980		Barltrop & Wolveridge Muvver Tongue 89: He is a ‘kidder’ or ‘a bit of a kidpot, on the quiet’.
2005		H. Mantel Beyond Black 164: I always thought you were a bit of a lezzie.

2. (UK/Aus.) a young person, as in a bit of a girl [bit n.¹ (2a)].

1873		R. Broughton Nancy II 266: Little woman, what can a bit of a thing like you have done to make me seem so much more valuable to myself?
1895		W. Pett Ridge Minor Dialogues 275: I was very fond of painting over the pictures in the illustrated papers when I was a bit of a girl.
1944		J.S. Pennell Hist. of Rome Hanks 116: He was a littlebittovaboy.
1949		R. Park Poor Man’s Orange 108: Kidger saw that he was talking to a bit of a girl, and he was delighted.
1959		D. Hewett Bobbin Up (1961) 202: Some are only bitsa kids.
1969		L. Hadow Full Cycle 234: Nice bit of a job, that dame of his.

In phrases

bit of a groat (n.)

a woman, seen in a sexual context.

1714

A. Smith Lives of Most Noted Highway-men, etc. I 25: He and his dear Bit of a Groat rid into the Wood [...] with an Intention of Enjoyment in the Folds of Love.

bit of a lad (n.)

a cheeky, self-possessed youth who ‘fancies himself’.

1903		Tyrone Constit. 18 Sept. 3/3: [of a lying old man] Chairman—This fellow seems to be a bit of a lad.
1933		Gibbons Truth About the Legion 188: A French word of zouaver was coined; it meant to ‘swagger like a Zouave’, to be, in fact, a bit of a lad!
1939		V. Davis Gentlemen of the Broad Arrows 252: The latter was a ‘bit of a lad’ and we became friendly in no time.
1966		C. Wood Fill the Stage With Happy Hours (1967) Act VII: I’m a bit of a lad you know – do you think you’re safe with me?
1978		F. Norman Dead Butler Caper 121: They take it for granted that just because Daddy was a bit of a lad, in his youth, he is still up to all kinds of villainy.
1988		J. Healy Grass Arena (1990) 152: She was hinting that I was a bit of a lad coming in with that gear.

bit of buff and fur (v.) [buff n.¹ (1) and fur n. (1)]

(US) a naked or half-clothed woman (ready for sex).

1902

D. St John Memoirs of Madge Buford 87: I unbuttoned my wrapper and lay there, a tempting bit of buff and fur from waist to heels.

bit of frock (n.)

a woman.

1898		Dly Teleg. 30 Dec. 8/5: ‘You see Soph was a lively bit o’ frock’.
1904		Pall Mall Gaz. 24 Sept. 9/1: She looked the Tastiest bit of Frock you could immajin in her Black Dress and Muslin cap and Apren.

bit of fuck (v.)

a highly sexual woman.

1899

Crissie 148: ‘You did “have” her [...] then?’ ‘Rather! She’s the hottest bit of fuck I ever poked!’.