word of the day: boob

word of the day: boob

Miss Bianca and Bernard, representing the Mouse Prisoners’ Aid Society, have come to the Antarctic to rescue a man stranded in the icy wastes.

While there the two mice run into a polar bear family. At first, though Bernard suggests he sees a bear, Miss Bianca pooh-poohs the notion. After all, as “she reminded him,” polar bears live in the Arctic, not the Antarctic. “‘In the Antarctic they don’t exist,’” she insists. 

But when the bears reveal themselves by discussing their own expedition to the far side of the Earth (“an Exchange Visit,” the mother bear calls it), Miss Bianca has to change her tune. Being as Miss Bianca has the greater education, Bernard often feels tentative about his knowledge. Yet in this case he is vindicated. “Bernard was so glad to find he hadn’t boobed.” 

definition (dictionary.com): British. to blunder.

source:

Miss Bianca in the Antarctic

by Margery Sharp

illustrated by Erik Blegveld

1971. Little, Brown & Co., Boston MA