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brinkmanship (n.)[brinkmanship 词源字典]: also brinksmanship, with parasitic -s- and construction based on salesmanship, sportsmanship, etc.; from brink (the image of the brink of war dates to at least 1840).

Associated with the policies advocated by John Foster Dulles (1888-1959), U.S. Secretary of State 1953-1959. The word springs from Dulles' philosophy as outlined in a magazine interview [with Time-Life Washington bureau chief James Shepley] early 1956:
The ability to get to the verge without getting into the war is the necessary art. If you cannot master it, you inevitably get into war. If you try to run away from it, if you are scared to go to the brink, you are lost.
The quote was widely criticized by the Eisenhower Administration's opponents, and the first attested use of brinkmanship seems to have been in such a context, a few weeks after the magazine appeared, by Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson criticizing Dulles for "boasting of his brinkmanship, ... the art of bringing us to the edge of the nuclear abyss."[brinkmanship etymology, brinkmanship origin, 英语词源]
briny (adj.): c. 1600, from brine + -y (2). Used earlier of tears than of the ocean (1610s). Related: Brininess.
brio (n.): "liveliness, vivacity," 1734, from Italian brio, literally "mettle, fire, life," perhaps a shortened derivative of Latin ebrius "drunk." Or via Provençal briu "vigor," from Celtic *brig-o- "strength," from PIE root *gwere- (2) "heavy" (see grave (adj.)). Probably entered English via musical instruction con brio.
brioche (n.): enriched type of French bread, 1824, from French brioche (15c.), from brier "to knead the dough," Norman form of broyer "to grind, pound," from West Germanic *brekan "to break" (see break (v.)).
briquette (n.): 1884, originally blocks of compressed coal dust held together by pitch, from French briquette (18c.), diminutive of brique (see brick (n.)).
bris (n.): Yiddish word for the circumcision ceremony, from bris milah, Ashkenazi pronunciation of brit milah "covenant of circumcision."
brisk (adj.): 1550s, as Scottish bruisk, probably an alteration of French brusque (see brusque). Related: Briskly; briskness.
brisket (n.): mid-14c., brusket, perhaps from Old French bruschet, with identical sense of the English word, or from Old Norse brjosk "gristle, cartilage" (related to brjost "breast") or Danish bryske or Middle High German brusche "lump, swelling;" from PIE *bhreus- "to swell, sprout" (see breast (n.)).
bristle (n.): Old English byrst "bristle," with metathesis of -r-, from Proto-Germanic *bursti- (cognates: Middle Dutch borstel, German borste), from PIE *bhrsti- from root *bhars- "point, bristle" (cognates: Sanskrit bhrstih "point, spike"). With -el, diminutive suffix.
bristle (v.): c. 1200 (implied in past participle adjective bristled) "set or covered with bristles," from bristle (n.). Meaning "become angry or excited" is 1540s, from the way animals show fight. Related: Bristling.
bristly (adj.): 1590s, from bristle (n.) + -y (2). Figurative sense is recorded from 1872. Related: Bristliness.
Bristol: City in western England, Middle English Bridgestow, from Old English Brycgstow, literally "assembly place by a bridge" (see bridge (n.) + stow). A local peculiarity of pronunciation adds -l to words ending in vowels. Of a type of pottery, 1776; of a type of glass, 1880. In British slang, "breast," 1961, from Bristol cities, rhyming slang for titties.
Brit (n.): U.S. colloquial shortening of Britisher or Briton, 1901, formerly (in common with Britisher) highly offensive to Englishmen traveling in the States, who regarded it as yet another instance of the "odious vulgarism" of the Americans, but Bret and Bryt were common Old English words for the (Celtic) Britons and survived until c. 1300. In Old French, Bret as an adjective meant "British, Breton; cunning, crafty; simple-minded, stupid."
Britain (n.): c. 1300, Breteyne, from Old French Bretaigne, from Latin Britannia, earlier Brittania, from Brittani "the Britons" (see Briton). The Old English place-name Brytenlond meant "Wales." If there was a Celtic name for the island, it has not been recorded.
Britannic (adj.): 1640s, from Latin Britannicus (see Britain).
britches (n.): 1905, from britch (1620s), an old variant of breeches.
brite: variant of bright (adj.). It figures in English phonetic spelling reform from at least the late 19c.; as an advertiser's word it dates from at least 1905 ("Star-brite Metal Polish," made by the Star-Brite Company of Lancaster, Pa., U.S.).
British (adj.): Old English Bryttisc "of or relating to (ancient) Britons," from Bryttas "natives of ancient Britain" (see Briton). First modern record of British Isles is from 1620s.
Briton (n.): Anglo-French Bretun, from Latin Brittonem (nominative Britto, misspelled Brito in MSS) "a member of the tribe of the Britons," from *Britt-os, the Celtic name of the Celtic inhabitants of Britain and southern Scotland before the 5c. Anglo-Saxon invasion drove them into Wales, Cornwall, and a few other corners. In 4c. B.C.E. Greek they are recorded as Prittanoi, which is said to mean "tattooed people." Exclusively in historical use after Old English period; revived when James I was proclaimed King of Great Britain in 1604, and made official at the union of England and Scotland in 1707.
Brittany (n.): French Bretagne, named for 5c. Romano-Celtic refugees from the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain who crossed the channel and settled there (see Britain). The Little Britain or Less Britain (lasse brutaine, c. 1300) of old, contrasted with the Great Britain. As a name for girls (with various spellings), almost unknown in U.S. before 1970, then a top-10 name for babies born between 1986 and 1995.