Green’s Dictionary of Slang

a euph. for bloody adj.; thus also beeaitch, bloody hell; beeeff, bloody fool.

1843		R.S. Surtees Handley Cross (1854) 526: B— boy’s shoved the corner of the shutter right into the pit of my stomach!
1906		Sun. Times (Perth) 1 July 4/8: You’re a ‘b’ fool.
1907		Sun. Times (Perth) 5 May 4/8: The frequent crimson-tinted B, / That splits the silence sad.
1914		Sport (Adelaide) 20 Nov. 5/5: He must have lost his punch at b. sparring.
1915		T. Hampson diary 12 Mar. 🌐 Our trenches had been blown in and there was a B-awful mess.
1930		K.S. Prichard Haxby’s Circus 345: ‘Too many b’s flying about. Not a bloody bee left in the hive,’ he said. ‘The old man ’d turn in his grave if he heard the way some of you chaps go shouting around.’.
1941		V. Davis Phenomena in Crime 175: Shoot me for a bee fool.
1963		K. Waterhouse Jubb (1966) 9: I was stuck in the b. High Street with an hour [...] to wait.
2024		J. Meades Empty Wigs (t/s) 279: ...god didn’t save the king even though he’s daily implored to... that b awful anthem has no magic..