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English citations of betty
(to open with a betty):
1976, Michael Crichton, The Great Train Robbery, page 185:“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?”
2012, Sarah J. Waldock, Jane and the Bow Street Runner, page 355:I don't know if he would or not; it turns out his job in the affair is with his skill in bettying locks, to get in and out without anyone finding out that they had even been there.
2013, Zack Wentz, “Simplicity itself”, in Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, volume 10, page 161: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.
(to be overly attentive to someone or something):
1863, John Weiss, quoting Theodore Parker, Life and Correspondence of Theodore Parker, volume 2, page 105:How strange that I should have no children, and only get a little sad sort of happiness, not the affectional quality! I am only an old maid in life, after all my bettying about in literature and philanthropy.
1883, H.R.L., Sylvian Despard’s Revenge, page 52:They’d pin a dish-cloth to my coat-tail, or take some such liberties with me, if they saw me bettying over their kitchen fire.