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Original poster

Meaning of abbreviation ‘BBs’ in a 1940s Book

107 replies

EllieQ · 19/07/2026 09:34

I’m reading Confusion by Elizabeth Jane Howard, which is set during WW2, and was puzzled by the abbreviation ‘BBs’ in a scene where one of the characters is thinking about the usual shopping list she would have for a trip to to London - the line is ‘BBs for Clary and Polly’ who are teenage girls.

Google hasn’t helped as I’ve just got results for Bulletin Board Services (know as BBS) or the BBC. I’m assuming it’s something underwear or toiletry related, but can’t figure it out! Does anyone have any idea what it could stand for?

OP posts:
Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 19/07/2026 09:40

I hate it when Google feeds me some AI, especially when what it says is nonsense. Its first suggestion was that it was something to do with bobby sox, i.e. ankle socks, but bust bodices seems far more likely and that was its next suggestion.

ShushAndLetMummySpeak · 19/07/2026 09:40

Bust bodice was the common earlier term for what we now call a brassiere/bra, and it was often shortened to BB; plural BBs. It was still familiar in 1940s Britain.

It’s not a modern acronym - just a period shorthand that’s dropped out of use, which is why web searches only give you BBS/BB tech results. Elizabeth Jane Howard would have known it from her own 1940s youth, so she uses it naturally without explanation.

MonsterSister · 19/07/2026 09:39

Yes, bust bodice would be my guess.

itsanamething · 19/07/2026 09:37

I'm wondering if it's a short form for a liberty bodice.

banivani · 19/07/2026 09:37

Oh what a good puzzle, I love stuff like this. Hope someone has an answer (in other words I’m placemarking).

QuaintBeaker · 19/07/2026 09:37

Chat gpt gives the following suggestion

"Interestingly, this abbreviation isn't widely recognized today, but it has been specifically noted by lexicographers because of this very passage from Confusion. R. W. Holder's Dictionary of Euphemisms quotes the shopping list:

"...Start-rite shoes for Wills and Rory, summer vest for Aunt Dolly, esoteric haberdashery for the Duchy... BBs for Clary and Polly."

and glosses "BBs" as bust bodices."

QuaintBeaker · 19/07/2026 09:35

Best bonnets???

Literally no idea

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