wheel that can be stopped at any point desired by operating a secret
trigger or spring. As a noun its use is also general in the sense of an
arrest; the same with the verb, to pinch.
PIPE, Noun
General currency. A certainty; a cinch. Example: “It’s a pipe that he
can’t get away with it.” Derived from the term “lead pipe,” used by
highwaymen, because its effectual employment involves a moral certainty
that the robber will relieve the victim of his valuables.
PIPE, Verb
General currency. To look; to concentrate the attention; to observe.
See “GUN.” Example: “Pipe the moll with the rocks.”
PITCH, Noun
General currency. An effort; an essay; an attempt. See “PLUNGE.”
A “HIGH PITCH” is the term used by street fakirs to describe the
operation of beguiling the public from a soap box, a platform, a
carriage or automobile; selling merchandise from an eminence like an
auctioneer.
PIVOT, Verb
Current amongst yeggs and street beggars. To solicit alms on the
thoroughfares. Used also by “HUSTLERS” to indicate the operations of a
woman of the town who solicits on the streets.
PLUNGE, Noun
Super idem. To sally out on the streets with a specific aim, as in
begging, soliciting or in other reprehensible conduct. Example: “The
whole tribe made a five buck plunge to spring Jimmy from the canister.”
Amongst non-criminal classes of the demi-monde the term is used to
indicate a strenuous endeavor.
POKE, Noun
General currency. A pocketbook. (Poke a sack or bag. “A pig in a
poke.”) See “LEATHER.”
P. P., Noun
Current amongst yeggs and money-begging tramps. A plaster of paris cast
used on arm or limb to simulate fracture. See “BUG;” “JIGGER.”
PRATT, Noun
General usage. The human rear; the buttocks; a hip pocket.
PROP, Noun
General circulation amongst pickpockets and looters. A diamond stud
originally, now comprehending diamonds in any sense. See “FISH EYE.”
Example: “Any heel gun can get a breech poke, but it takes an A1 claw
to grab a prop.”
PROWL, Noun
General currency. An expeditionary investigation; a survey in transit;
a search of the person or of a place in the sense of “FRISK;” a
burglary; a sneak; a saunter. Also used as a verb in the same senses.
PUFF, Noun
Current amongst yeggs. Powder used to blow a safe; the explosion of
“SOUP” in a safe. Example: “The dump was kipped, but we muffled the
puff.”
PUNCHING GUN, Verb, Present Part.
General currency. The use of criminal slang; ostentatious display of
sophistication. Example: “He can punch gun till the cows come home, but
he can’t get a can of water out of a water tank.”
PUNK, Noun
General currency. Bread. As an adjective the term is synonymous with
“CROW,” “LAMOS.” Example: “The whole layout is punk.” Also a sodomite
youth--a yegg term.
PUSH, Noun
General currency. Crowd; gang; clique; mob.
PUSH and SLIDE, Noun
Current amongst short changers and confidence men who employ the ruse
of substitution. A short changing operation whereby money, currency,
counted in the hand of the crook is afterward held out by palming,
and depends for immunity from detection by a forcible pushing of the
residue of the sum counted into the hand of the victim, accompanied by
a suggestion or urge to pocket the money without recounting.
PUSSY FOOT, Noun
General currency. A detective. See “RICHARD;” “DICK.”
PUT-EM-UP, Noun
Current amongst heavyweights mainly. A highway robber; a desperate
criminal who is prepared to hold up any interloper to prevent
interference.
RAG, Noun
General currency. A woman. See “SKIRT;” “JANE;” “MOLL.”
RAP, Noun and Verb
General usage. An identification; a charge of guilt.
RAT, Noun
General currency. Passenger train: street car. A contraction of
“RATTLER.” Also an ignominious term, used in the sense of “CRAB.”
RAT CRUSHER, Noun
Current amongst heavyweights, yeggs and “dise” men. A box-car burglar.
The terms “rattler” and “John O’Brien” are used interchangeably by some
criminals, but their original significations are those given.
RATTLER, Noun
General currency. A passenger train; a passenger or street car.
Example: “The two of us stalled the rattler can on one ducat.” Also a
“RAT WORKER.”
READER, Noun
Current amongst “flat joint” men and peddlers. A formal license; a
certificate; a written permit. Example: “You can’t open the ballyhoo in
this burg without a reader.”
READERS, Noun
Current amongst crooked gamblers. A pack of marked cards, therefore
readable from the obverse side. Example: “How are they working, with
the mitt? No, with the readers.”
REDUCTION, Noun
Current amongst dope fiends. The reduction cure for a “HABIT.” Example:
“The only sensible way of getting off is on the reduction.”
REEF, Verb
Current amongst pickpockets. To lift a pocket lining or an obstacle
in the form of wearing apparel by methodical manner to expedite the
operations of the “WIRE” or “TOOL” in a gun mob. Generally used in the
imperative mood. Example: “Reef the right kick for a tweezer.” By this
function a pocket may be slowly turned inside out without detection;
it is done in cases where the pocket is too deep, too tight or where
extraordinary caution is expedient in pocket picking.
RICHARD, Noun
General currency. A detective. Derived from the process of nicknaming,
but in reverse of the usual custom. Thus from the term “DETECTIVE,”
“DICK” was suggested and hence “RICHARD” was derived. Or, following the
corruption of the English “Robert” to “Bob” and “Bobby,” the American
parallel was suggested.
RIGHT, Adjective
General currency. Sympathetic in a criminal sense; fixed; squared;
noncondemnatory. Also a synonym for “SQUARE-SHOOTER.” Example: “He’s
as right as a golden guinea. Slip him a piece of soft.” Also used as a
verb, to fix; to bribe.
RINGER, Noun
General currency. A similarity; a double; a disguise; a pair of
spectacles. Used in the latter sense because of the wonderful change
produced in one’s aspect by the addition of a pair of nose glasses or
spectacles to the personal adornment. Used also as a verb. Example:
“They’ll hardly make him because he’s rung up.”
RISER, Noun
General circulation. An “eye opener;” a scare; a fright; any mental or
physical agent that moves to action. Example: “He got an awful riser
with that dick at his pratt.”
ROAR, Noun
General currency. A protest. See “SQUAWK;” “BELCH.” Example: “If this
gink blows the touch he’ll make an awful roar.”
ROCKS, Noun
General usage. Diamonds. In popular slang it means money.
ROD, Noun
General currency. A revolver. See “SMOKE WAGON;” “ROSCOE.” Also used as
verb, to hold up at the point of a pistol. Example: “Rod this guy right
off the jump.” (Here as verb.)
RODS, Noun
In general circulation amongst “hop scotchers.” The iron truck braces
under a passenger coach, running at right angles to the length of the
car. A “ROD DUCAT” is a small board used as a seat by truck riders.
ROLL, Verb
General usage. To search the pockets of a sleeping person or of an
intoxicated one. Example: “He rolled a stiff for a bundle of scratch.”
Used as a noun “ROLL” signifies a wad of money, as a “BANK ROLL.”
ROSCOE, Noun
Current amongst arms-carrying criminals. A revolver. See “CANNON;”
“GAT.” Example: “Stash your roscoe before you come back to the kip.”
ROUND, Noun
General currency. A turning of the head to take a backward glance;
surveying the rear trail to ascertain whether or not one is being
followed, or to determine the identity of a person or object passed.
Example: “Stall something to the ground and take a round at this
coatmaker;” (trailer or tailer, corrupted to tailor and thence
coatmaker).
ROUST, Verb
Current amongst pickpockets. To jam against a victim in a violent
manner; to squeeze a victim between two pickpocket assistants in a
way to distract his attention from the principal in the encounter who
consectaneously[11] extracts the victim’s valuables from a given pocket.
In the present tense the term is used in the imperative mood, being a
command and an instruction of itself. Example: “Roust!!” “Jostle the
victim rudely, but in a seemingly unconscious manner.”
[11] The author probably intended “simultaneously.”
ROUTE, Verb
Current amongst pickpockets principally. To look up and make memoranda
of dates of large popular gatherings, such as conventions, etc. This is
known as “Routing the grift.” To route is usually the function of the
best mind in a “gun mob.”
RUM, Noun
General currency. An ignoramus; an inefficient. Derived from the
experience that “booze” incapacitates the mind of a crook, who to be
successful requires a quick wit and a vigilant grasp of situations. A
synonym for “RUM DUM,” that is, dumb, of slow wit, from the use of rum.
RUMBLE, Noun
General currency. A botch that precipitates discovery; a faux pas; an
awkward situation brought about by fumbling. See “BLOOMER;” “TUMBLE;”
“FALL.” Example: “If you walk on the main stem with him you’ll get a
rumble.” In this sense the term implies an identification. Also used as
a verb, to arouse suspicion; to be discovered.
SANTA CLAUS, Noun
General currency. An ingenious mind; an original thinker.
SAPS, Noun
General currency. Crutches; clubs or sticks as weapons of offense.
Derived from “sapling.” The latter meaning may also be employed in the
form of the verb, to sap, to beat. Any bludgeon is a sap.
SCAT, Noun
General circulation. Whiskey. Derived by suggestion from “skey” (skee),
the termination of “whiskey.”
SCOFF, Verb
General usage. To eat. Example: “When do we scoff in this dump?” Also
used as a noun; a “scoff” is a meal, a feed.
SCORE, Verb
Current amongst pickpockets and criminals who are necessitated to make
frequent repetitions of procedure to acquire means. To successfully
negotiate; to “make a touch;” to “put one over.” Example: “We scored
seven times in the same joint by ringing up,” i. e., disguising. Also
used as a noun in the same sense.
SCRATCH, Noun
General currency amongst literate criminals. Paper currency; a letter;
a signature; a writing. Examples: “He’s got a bundle of scratch,” (Bank
roll); “The only way you can get a knock-down (introduction) is with
a scratch.” “The difficult thing is to get his scratch.” See “JOHN
HANCOCK;” “STIFF.”
SCREW, Noun
General currency amongst prison habitues and prowlers. A key; a turnkey
or jailor; a prison guard. Example: “That bunch of screws you’re
carrying is a knock.” “You can get a letter in through the screw; he’s
a P. O.”
SCENERIES, Noun
General currency. A pair of spectacles or nose glasses. See “GLIMS;”
“RINGER.” Example: “He’s peddling sceneries and hoops.”
SEND IN, Noun
General circulation. An indorsement; a recommendation. Example: “With
the proper send in I can twist this boob. Rib it up.” Also used as a
verb, to laud, to praise, with an ulterior motive.
SETTLED, Verb, Past Part.
General currency amongst outlaw criminals. Convicted of misdemeanor
or statutory offense. Example: “He’s settled for a two spot.” See
“LAGGED[12];” “LOSER.”
[12] There is no entry for “LAGGED” in the text.
SHAGGED, Verb, Past Part.
General currency. Identified; recognized; discovered; exposed. See
“RAPPED.” Example: “He was shagged on the first go.”
SHAKE DOWN, Noun
General currency. A personal search; a deprivation of one’s personal
belongings. Used also as a verb. Example: “If this dick nails you
you’ll have to stand a shake down.”
SHILLIVER, SHILLIBER, Noun
Current amongst criminals who employ “Stalls,” “boosters,” or aides. A
supernumerary; a secondary; an epithet applied to apprentice crooks. To
“SHILL” is to act in the capacity of a hired criminal.
SHONIKER, Noun
Current amongst cosmopolitan thieves, especially Jews. A neophyte or
inexperienced hand at the game. A synonym for “SHILLIBER.”
SHOOT, Verb
Current amongst hypodermic habitues. To inject morphine or other drug
with a syringe. Example; “How many times do you shoot a day?”
SHOW, Verb.
General currency. To keep an appointment; to present oneself at a
meeting place. Example: “This party can never be depended upon to show.
He’ll stick you nine times in ten.”
SHORT, Noun
Current chiefly amongst pickpockets, though used by all polished
criminals to some extent. A street car. Derived from the limited extent
of a street car ride compared with the distances negotiable by railroad
transportation. Example: “After catching the breaks we’ll make the
shorts for a half hour.”
SKIRT, Noun
General currency. A woman. See “JANE;” “MUFF[13];” “MOLL.”
[13] There is no entry for “MUFF” in the text.
SKIN, Noun
General circulation. A shirt. Example: “Let’s go down to the jungles
and boil our skins.”
SLAM, Noun
General currency. An insult; a rebuke; an insinuation. Also used in
the same sense as a verb as well as with the meaning of violence, to
deliver a vigorous blow.
SLANG, Noun
General currency. A watch chain. A watch fob, as well as an earring, is
called a “DANGLER.”
SLOUGH, Verb
General currency. To dispose of; to abandon; to throw away; to
eliminate; to conceal without delay or forethought. Example: “There
isn’t a mark of identification on his clothes; he’s sloughed
everything.” In this sense the term is pronounced “sluffed.” In the
sense of hiding or getting rid of an object instantly the same word is
pronounced “slou,” with the sound of “o” as in cow. To “SLOUGH” also
means to close, to shut, as a door.
SLOUGHER, Noun
Current amongst plunderbunders. A fence; a pawnbroker; a middle man in
the disposition of contraband.
SLUM, Noun
General currency. Jewelry of any description, but lately reduced in
scope of meaning to include only the less valuable kinds of jewelry;
a synonym for “CROW;” “PUNK.” Example: “He’s got a bale of slum for
sloughings.”
SMOKE WAGON, Noun
General currency. A firearm; a revolver. See “ROD;” “CANNON.”
SNEEZE, Verb
General usage. To be apprehended; detained. See “GLOMMED;” “CRABBED.”
Example: “He wouldn’t have been sneezed if he had kept away from that
fluzie.”
SNOW, Noun
Current chiefly amongst cocaine fiends. Derived from the extremely
flocculent nature of cocaine when pulverized, in which state cocaine
is used as a snuff. A “SNOW BIRD” is the customary designation of the
cocaine habitue.
SOFT, Noun
Current amongst currency thieves and grafters who handle considerable
sums of money. Paper money. See “SCRATCH.” Example: “I fanned a gob of
soft in the right jerve.” As an adjective “soft” means easy, facile,
felicitous, comfortable.
SOUP, Noun
Current amongst yeggs. Nitroglycerine. Example: “If you drop that
bottle of soup you’ll grease the scenery,” i. e., be blown up.
SOUTH, Adverb
General circulation. Stored away; concealed, as valuables. See “UNDER
COVER.” As a verb the term is employed with the same meaning. Example:
“Keep tabs and see that he don’t go south with the dough.”
SPLIT, Noun
General currency. A division, as of spoils. See “END;” “BIT.” Used as a
verb it indicates to divide, as money; or to separate, as in the sense
of “SPLIT OUT,” or “SPLIT AWAY.” Example: “The make was split three
ways and then we split out.”
SPUD, Noun
Current amongst confidence men chiefly. The “green goods” bunco; a
substitution ruse, devised originally on the basis of counterfeit
currency, hence the name “SPUD,” derived by attribution, as in the case
of “KALE.” Any confidence game in which currency plays a prominent part
as a lure is aptly designated a variation of the “SPUD.” Also commonly
used as a synonym for the Irish potato.
SQUAB, Noun
Current amongst libertines mainly. A young female; an unsophisticated
girl.
SQUARE PLUG, Noun
General currency. A timorous person who is in moral sympathy with the
criminal element, but lacking the courage or inclination to actually
participate; a harmless individual in the view of crooks. Example:
“Don’t be leery of him; he’s a square plug.”
SQUARE-SHOOTER, Noun
General currency. A dependable person; a reliable, compact-keeping
person; though not necessarily a moral, virtuous, impeccable one; for
it is politic for even a crook to be a “square-shooter” provided it be
also expedient.
SQUAWK, Noun
General currency. A protest; a vociferous demonstration, as an
indignant repudiation of an injustice. Also used as a verb in the same
sense. Example: “If you don’t put up a squawk they’ll trim you.”
SQUEEZE, Noun
General circulation. The principal or manager of an institution, an
establishment or of any undertaking. A contraction of the popular “MAIN
SQUEEZE,” meaning the same as here given.
STAB, Noun
General currency. An essay to accomplish a project; an effort. See
“PLUNGE.” Also used as a verb. Example: “I don’t know how it will come
out, but I’m going to make a stab at it.” Also used by dope fiends for
“JAB.”
STALL, Noun
General currency. A pretense; an equivocation; a confederate who
distracts the attention of a victim or misleads him to regrettable
action. See “BOOSTER.” Used as a verb in the same sense, to
prevaricate, to misrepresent with sinister intent. The colloquial
vernacular, “He’s got more stalls than a livery stable,” signifies that
the person under discussion is a shifty agent, a colossal liar.
STASH, Verb
General currency. To hide; to conceal; to cease talking; to “plant.”
Also used as a noun in the sense of something cached. Example: “Stash
the gun crackin; there’s a knocker in the push.”
STIFF, Noun
Current amongst literate criminals chiefly. A piece of paper; a letter;
a ticket; a license; a permit. See “READER.” Derived from the unpliable
attribute of paper in general. Example: “I haven’t had a stiff from
home for two months.” Also used to designate a mean, contemptible
person; sometimes it is employed as a synonym for man. See “GUY;”
“MARK.”
STIR, Noun
General currency amongst prison habitues. Penitentiary; a synonym
for “BIG HOUSE,” the latter being employed in contradistinction to
county jails, workhouses and police stations when prison is discussed.
Example: “He’s back in stir again.”
STEM, Noun
Current amongst yeggs. A steel drill. Amongst opium smokers the term
signifies an opium pipe. See “GONGER.” It also is a synonym for “DRAG.”
STRETCH, Noun
Current amongst prison habitues. A prison sentence. See “LAG;” “BIT.”
In general circles the term signifies a look, a glance, used as a verb
as well as a noun. See “GANDER;” “NECKING;” “ROUND.”
STIX, Noun
General currency. A pair of crutches. See “SAPS.”
STRIDES, Noun
General usage. A pair of trousers. Example: “This dump is an easy boost
for the strides.”
STRING, Noun
Current amongst yeggs. A fuse. Example: “He’s got five yards of string
around the midriff,” i. e., wrapped around the waist under the shirt.
SUEY POW, Noun
Current amongst opium smokers. A sponge or rag used to cool and cleanse
the face of an opium bowl. Also used by the demi monde as an equivalent
of the term “GRANNY.”
SURE THING, Noun
Current amongst confidence men and “flat joint” grafters principally. A
something-for-nothing proposition. See “HUNDRED PER CENT.” Used as an
adjective it specifies an unmitigated robbery.
SWEETEN, Verb
General currency. To augment; to “press” in the gambler’s sense, as a
jackpot. Amongst the plunderbund the term signifies the procuring of an
additional loan on collateral. Also used as a synonym for “BRIBE.”
SWINGING BALL, Noun
Current amongst “flat joint” grafters. A ball suspended from a gibbet
by a chain or string and which is skillfully swung at a wooden cone
posited in the center of the ball’s swinging area, the purpose being
to avoid the cone on the forward movement, and to strike it upon the
rebound. Incidentally the aim is to relieve the inexpert of ready cash.
SWITCH, Verb
General currency. To substitute; to exchange; to vary. Example: “The
only way you can score with the weight in that joint is with the
switch, as he has everything cased.” Used as a noun to signify a
substitute.
TAIL, Verb
General circulation. To trail; to follow. Used as a noun in the same
sense. Example: “Be careful not to bring anything home on your tail,”
i. e., a shadower.
TENT, Noun
Current amongst prison habitues. A cell. Example: “He’s doing penance
in a tent.”
THERE, Adverb
General currency. Informed; wise; trained; artful. Example: “He’s there
forty ways from Revelation.”
THIMBLE, Noun
General currency. A watch. See “BLOCK;” “TURNIP.” Formerly the term in
the plural had the signification of “NUTS;” “HICKS;” “SHELLS;” as these
are in use today.
TIN EAR, Verb
General usage. To eavesdrop; to listen impertinently. Also used as a
noun. Example: “Chop the wheeze, we’ve got a tin-ear on our hip.”
TIP, Noun
Pickpockets. A ticket office. The place where obligations are paid to a
cashier.
TOG, Noun
Current amongst pickpockets. An overcoat used for a shield. From Latin
“Toga,” a cloak.
TOMMY, Noun
General currency amongst the licentious. A prostitute. See “DONY.”
TOOL, Noun
Current amongst pickpockets. A pickpocket proper; the member of a “gun
mob” who does the “dipping.” Also used as a verb in the same sense.
TOP, Verb
General currency. To execute by hanging. See “BUMP OFF.” Example:
“Carrying a rod is an invitation to get topped.”
TOUCH, Noun
Current mainly amongst pickpockets, though used in a milder sense in
general circles. See “SCORE.” Example: “Any fink that tears into that
tip without making a touch ought to be canned.” “He tried to put the B.
on me for the third touch this week.”
TRIBE, Noun
Used principally by yeggs and begging bums, though current, too,
amongst grafters who operate in cliques. A gang; a class. Example:
“You’ll find the tribe at the joint when you get there.”
TRIM, Verb
General currency. To fleece; to cheat; to rob in any manner. Example:
“If you make a flash you’re due to get trimmed.”
TUMBLE, Noun
General currency. A discovery; an exposure. See “RUMBLE.” Example:
“It’s a bad idea to work without fall dough, for it’s a ten-to-one jig
on the first tumble.” Used as a verb in the same sense, as well as to
signify acquiring understanding suddenly.
TURKEY, Noun
General usage. A suit case; a large traveling bag. Derived by
suggestion from the popular custom of stuffing a trunk full of personal
belongings into a suit case. In non-criminal circles, as well as in
criminal, the term has a vague meaning of facileness, something easily
or readily accomplished.
TURNIP, Noun
General currency. A pocket time piece; a watch. See “BLOCK.”
TWEEZER, Noun
Current amongst pickpockets. A small pocketbook with knob clasps.
TWISTED, Verb, Past Part.
Current amongst confidence men. To be buncoed; to be deluded by a
confidential snare. Derived by suggestion from the confusion created in
the understanding of a victim in the usual confidence game. See “TRIM.”
Example: “Out of six plays we twisted five ripe ones.”
UNDER COVER, Adverb
General currency. Protected financially by a reserve held in secret;
selfish; miserly; illiberal with wealth. See “SOUTH.” Example: “Anybody
in this mob that’s under cover is running chances of being prowled.”
UNDERNEATH, Adverb
Current amongst shoplifters. A term used to describe the most common
method employed by female shoplifters of concealing stolen goods;
i. e., carried between the limbs. Example: “She can go underneath with a
bigger bunch of junk than any other moll I know.”
UNLOADING, Verb, Present Part.
Current amongst pickpockets. Picking pockets in a crowd as passengers
alight from street or railroad cars. Example: “We scored more pokes in
unloading them than we did in the breaks.”
WEAVE, Verb
Current amongst pickpockets. To sway a victim rudely from right to left
between two “stalls” so that the “claw” may operate without detection
of finger contact. Example: “Weave! I’ve got a tight breech,”
i. e., “jostle the victim, I have got my hand on a pocket book that is
wedged too firmly in the pocket to be pulled out without the aid of
distraction.”
WEIGHT, Noun
Used by store jewelry thieves. Pennyweighting; the “pwt.”
WELCH, Verb
Current in all circles. To betray a professional confidence; to peach;
to protest. See “ROAR.” Example: “Unless you’re nailed bang to rights
don’t welch, for the first principle of self-defense in law is to make
the other fellow find out what he wants to know through someone else.”
WHITE, Noun
Current amongst morphine habitues. Morphine. Example: “How many times a
day are you shooting the white?”
WEED, Verb