BIG THING. A rich booty.
BILBOA. A pointed instrument.
BILK. To cheat.
BILL OF SALE. A widow's weeds.
BILLY. A piece of whalebone or rawhide about fourteen inches long, with
an oval-shaped lump of lead at each end, one larger than the other, the
whole being covered with buckskin or india-rubber.
BILLY BUTTER. Mutton.
BILLY NOODLE. A soft fellow that believes the girls are all in love with
him.
BINGAVAST. Get you gone, "Bing we to New-York;" go we to New-York.
BINGO. Liquor.
BINGO-BOY. A drunken man.
BINGO-MORT. A drunken woman.
BIRDLIME. Time. Time arrests and reveals all things.
BIRTHDAY SUIT. Stark naked.
BIT. Out-witted, "The cove was bit;" "The cove has bit the flat, and
pinched his cole," outwitted and robbed him.
BIT. Done; sentenced; convicted.
BITE. To steal; to rob.
BLACK ACT. Picking locks.
BLACK COVE-DUBBER. A turn-key; a prison keeper.
BLACK FRIARS. Look out.
BLACK OINTMENT. Raw meat.
BLACK SPY. The devil.
BLACK-BOX. A lawyer.
BLACKLEG. A gambler.
BLARNEY. A picklock.
BLEAK. Handsome; "The Moll is bleak," the girl is handsome.
BLEAK-MORT. A pretty girl.
BLEATING RIG. Sheep-stealing.
BLEED. To compel a person to give money under threat of exposure.
BLINK. Not to see when one may. "The copper blinks, and won't drop to
me," i. e. the officer pretends not to see me; the officer looks another
way. To go to sleep.
BLOCK-HOUSE. A prison.
BLOKE. A man.
BLOSS. Woman; mistress; girl.
BLOTTED. Written.
BLOW. To inform.
BLOW A CLOUD. Smoke a segar or pipe.
BLOWEN. The mistress of a thief. "The blowen kidded the bloke into a
panel crib, and shook him of his honey and thimble," i. e. the girl
enticed the man into a thieving-house, and robbed him of his watch and
money.
BLUDGEONER. A fellow who passes off some well-dressed woman as his wife.
She goes out in search of a gallant, and entices her victim into some
unfrequented place. The bludgeoner waits outside until she gives him a
signal that the man is robbed, when he rushes in with a knife, pistol,
or club, and accuses the man with having seduced his wife. The poor fool
gets away as fast as possible, and does not know that he is robbed.
BLUDGET. A female thief who decoys her victims into alley-ways, or other
dark places, for the purpose of robbing them.
BLUE-BILLY. A peculiar handkerchief.
BLUE-PIGEON-FLYING. Stealing lead off the tops of houses.
BLUE-PLUM. A bullet; "Surfeit the bloke with blue-plum," shoot him.
BLUE-RUIN. Bad gin.
BLUFF. To bluster; look big.
BLUFFER. The landlord of a hotel.
BLUNDERBUSS. An ignorant, blustering fellow.
BLUNT. Money.
BOARDING-HOUSE. City prison; the Tombs.
BOARDING-SCHOOL. Penitentiary.
BOAT. "To boat with another;" to go in with him; to be his partner in
the same boat--in the same scrape.
BOATED. Transported; gone to sea.
BOB. The fellow that carries off the plunder; a shop-lifter; a cover or
staller.
BOB MY PAL. My girl.
BOB-CULL. A good fellow.
BOBBIE. A policeman.
BODY-COVER. A coat.
BOGUS. Bad coin; false.
BOKE. The nose.
BOLT. Run away.
BONE. To take; to steal; to ask him for it.
BONEBOX. The mouth.
BONED. Arrested; taken; carried off.
BONESETTER. A hard-riding horse.
BONNET. Hat. "Bonnet him," knock his hat down over his eyes.
BONNETTER. One who entices another to play; or the fellow who takes the
"flat" in hand after the "roper in" has introduced him to the house.
BOOBY-HATCH. Station-house; watch-house.
BOODLE. A quantity of bad money.
BOODLE-CARRIER. The man who carries the bulk of the counterfeit money
that is to be passed. The person who passes, or shoves it, as it is
called, having but one "piece" at a time. The fellow with the boodle
keeps close in the wake of the shover, to receive the good money, and
supply him with the counterfeit, as occasion requires.
BOOKED. Arrested.
BOOLY-DOG. An officer; a policeman.
BOOSING-KEN. A drinking-shop.
BOOTH. A place in which thieves congregate.
BOOZE. Intoxicating drink.
BORDELLO. A house of ill-fame.
BOSHING. A flogging.
BOTS. Boots.
BOTTLE-HEAD. A stupid fellow.
BOUNCE. To scold; blow up; to swagger; to convince by the force of sound
more than sense.
BOUNCER. A fellow that robs while bargaining with the store-keeper.
BOUNCING CHEAT. A bottle.
BOUNG. A purse.
BOWER. A prison.
BOWSPRIT IN PARENTHESIS. A pulled nose.
BRACKET-MUG. A very ugly face.
BRADS. Money.
BRAG. To boast.
BRASS. Money.
BREAD-BAG. The stomach.
BREAK-'O-DAY DRUM. A place for the sale of liquor, that never closes day
or night.
BREAKUPS. Steamboat-landings; dispersing of people from theatres,
lecture-rooms, churches, etc.
BRIEF. Duplicate.
BROAD PITCHING. The game of three-card monte.
BROADS. Cards.
BROADY. Materials of any kind.
BROKEN LEG. A woman that has had a child out of marriage.
BROTHER OF THE BLADE. A soldier.
BROTHER OF THE BOLUS. A doctor.
BROTHER OF THE BUNG. A brewer.
BROTHER OF THE BUSKIN. An actor.
BROTHER OF THE COIF. A counsellor-at-law.
BROTHER OF THE GUSSET. A pimp.
BROTHER OF THE QUILL. An author; an editor.
BROTHER OF THE STRING. Fiddler, or musician.
BROTHER OF THE SURPLICE. A minister.
BROTHER OF THE WHIP. A coachman.
BRUISER. A fighter.
BRUSH. To flatter; to humbug; an encounter. "It was the hardest brush I
ever saw; both men were as game as pebbles. It was nothing but cut,
carve, and come again."
BRUSHER. A full glass.
BRUSHING UP A FLAT. Praising or flattering.
BUBB. To drink; "Bubb your lush," drink your grog.
BUBBLE. To cheat.
BUCK. A hack-driver; bail.
BUCKET. A live man.
BUCKLER. A collar.
BUCKS-FACE. A cuckold.
BUDGE. A thief that sneaks into a store, and hides until the persons who
lock up are gone, when he lets in his accomplice.
BUFE. A dog.
BUFE-NAPPER. A dog-thief; a mean rogue.
BUFFER. A pugilist.
BUFFET. A false swearer.
BUFFING IT HOME. Swearing point blank to a circumstance or thing.
BUG. A breast-pin.
BUGABOSE. Sheriff's officers.
BUGAROCH. Handsome; very pretty.
BUGGER. A pickpocket; a buggsman.
BUGGING. Taking money from a thief by a policeman.
BULK AND FILE. Shop-lifters; two pickpockets operating together--the
"bulk" jostles the party that is to be robbed, and the "file" steals the
treasure.
BULL. A locomotive.
BULL-DOGS. Pistols.
BULL-TRAPS. Rogues who personate officers for the purpose of extorting
money.
BULLY. A lump of lead tied in a corner of a kerchief.
BULLY TIMES. Good times.
BUMMER. A sponger.
BUMY-JUICE. Porter or beer.
BUN. A fellow that can not be shaken off.
BUNG. A purse or pocket.
BURNERS. Rogues who cheat countrymen with false cards or dice.
BURNING. Cheating.
BURNT OUT. Worn-out roués; fellows that sorrow for the past, fear the
future, and can only make the present endurable through means that are
revolting to human reason.
BURST. The conclusion of an entertainment; a spree.
BURSTER. A burglar. Sometimes it denotes bread.
BUS-NAPPER. A constable.
BUST. To enter forcibly; a burglary.
BUSTLED. Confused; perplexed; puzzled.
BUTTEKER. A store.
BUTTER-KEN. A shop or store.
BUTTERED. Whipped.
BUTTON. To secure; to entice a simpleton to play.
BUZZING. Searching for. "I was in a push and had to buzz about half a
glass before I touched a flat's thimble and slang. I fenced the swag for
half a century"--"I was in a crowd and searched for half an hour before
I succeeded in stealing a man's watch and chain, which I sold for fifty
dollars."
C
CAB-MOLL. A woman that keeps a bad house.
CACKLE. To blab. "The cove cackles"--tells all he knows.
CAD. A baggage-smasher; a railroad conductor.
CADGER. A beggar; a mean thief.
CADY. A hat.
CAG. Sulky; morose.
CAIN AND ABEL. A table.
CAKE. An easy fool of a policeman; a flat cop.
CALF-SKIN FIDDLE. A drum.
CALLE. A gown.
CAM. Cambric, "Cam wiper." Cambric kerchief.
CAMESOR. A shirt or shift.
CAN. A dollar.
CAN'T SEE. Very drunk; so that he can not see a hole through a ladder.
CANARY-BIRD. A convict.
CANK. Dumb.
CANNIS COVE. A dog-man; a dog-merchant; a dog-thief.
CANT. A gift; to give.
CAP. To join in, "I will cap in with him"--I will appear to be his
friend.
CAP BUNG. Hand it over; give it to me.
CAP YOUR LUCKY. Run away.
CAPER COVE. A dancing-master.
CAPPER. One who supports another's assertion, to assist in cheating,
"The burner bammed the flat with sham books, and his pal capped in for
him"--The sharp cheated the countryman with false cards, and his
confederate assisted (capped) in the fraud.
CAPTAIN HEEMAN. A blustering fellow; a coward.
CAPTAIN TOPER. A smart highwayman.
CARAVAN. Plenty of cash; rich; money enough.
CARLER. A clerk.
CARREL. Jealous.
CART OF TOGS. A gift of clothes.
CASA. A house, "Tout that casa"--mark that house. "It is all bob; let's
dub the gig of the casa"--Now the coast is clear; let us break open the
door of the house.
CASE. A dollar.
CASS. Cheese.
CASSE. A house.
CAST. Course, "He traversed the cast"--he walked the course.
CASTER. A cloak.
CASTOR. A hat.
CAT. A drunken prostitute; a cross old woman; a muff; a pewter pot.