«Словарь криминального сленга»

СЛОВАРЬ\nКРИМИНАЛЬНОГО СЛЕНГА

Copyrighted, 1914

Составитель: ЛУИС Е. ДЖЕКСОН

СЛОВАРЬ

КРИМИНАЛЬНОГО СЛЕНГА

С

ПРИМЕРАМИ

ПОВСЕДНЕВНОГО УПОТРЕБЛЕНИЯ

АВТОР

Луис Е. Джексон

При содействии

К. Р. Хеллиера\n, городского детективного отдела

ПОРТЛЕНД, ОРЕГОН

Цена: 1,50 долл.

ПОСВЯЩАЕТСЯ

Т. М. Уорду

шерифу округа Малтнома, штат Орегон,

бесстрашному

и умному руководителю

общественного доверия.

ВВЕДЕНИЕ

Настоящий труд предпринимается вовсе не ради сенсационности, а из чувства полезности и социального долга. Он предлагается для прочтения и изучения всем тем должностным лицам и профессиональным служащим, чьи обязанности приводят их к случайным или постоянным контактам с закоренелыми представителями преступного мира.

Он может попасть в руки неблагонадежных лиц и тем самым способствовать распространению своего содержания в нежелательных кругах. С другой стороны, можно считать, что гласность является самым быстродействующим средством уничтожения язвенных моральных наростов. Пожалуй, обладание подобными знаниями свидетельствует об определенной приземленности; однако гордиевы узлы можно развязать только мечом; чтобы полакомиться вишней зимой, необходима открывалка, а чтобы поставить яйцо вертикально, его приходится разбить.

В силу самой природы преступности эффективный инструмент ее передачи является эфемерным, крайне эфемерным. Лексикон двадцатилетней давности сегодня почти полностью забыт. То же ждет и будущее — при условии, разумеется, что арго преступного мира уступит свое значение надстраивающимся над ним социальным слоям. Этот процесс можно сделать результативным посредством расследований и гласности. Когда судейский корпус, адвокатура, пресса, стражи правопорядка и частные агентства, занимающиеся выявлением, пресечением и исправление преступлений, ознакомятся с уловками и способами общения преступников, последние потеряют свою силу в том, что касается разработанной системы хитрости и злодеяний.

Заметно, что наш рядовой сотрудник правоохранительных органов или защитник в суде неизбежно является специалистом в одной или, возможно, лишь в нескольких из множества признанных отраслей профессиональной преступности. Данное ограничение отчасти обусловлено предписанной компетенцией, а отчасти неопытностью или незнанием всех типов преступников и их методов. Эффективность общей исправительной работы несомненно может быть повышена за счет более глубокого понимания языковых навыков лиц, с которыми приходится иметь дело в повседневной практике. Выражаем надежду, что публикация этого словаря криминальных терминов принесет существенную пользу добросовестным работникам на этой обширной ниве.

Мы осознаем наличие множества упущений и просим о содействии всех, кто заинтересован в полезности данного труда. Из мистического жаргона профессиональных нарушителей закона и их сообщников были отобраны лишь самые существенные, уместные и сугубо криминальные лексические обороты, поскольку общеупотребительный сленг понятен настолько широко, что его публикация вряд ли представляет ценность как новый вклад в нашу литературу.

Анализ четырехсот тридцати терминов, вошедших в словарь, обнаруживает интересный факт: криминальный идиом в значительной степени представляет собой остроумное сочетание эпитетов, подсказанных сходством, и извращенного толкования существенных и случайных свойств вещей и сил, подразумевающих или выражающих сами эти предметы и действия. На первый взгляд это оккультный жаргон, однако он достаточно систематизирован, если овладеть ключом к нему.

Часть терминов, по-видимому, образована путем простого разделения законных английских слов, порой с добавлением благозвучной приставки или суффикса. В качестве основного примера подмены вещи ее признаком рассмотрим, пожалуй, самый популярный сленговый термин, используемый сегодня в падшем мире — «допе» (dope), который в настоящее время означает «новости», «информацию» или «значение». Изначально это слово произошло от опиума путем разделения с добавлением маскирующей согласной «d» перед ударным слогом. Среди потребителей наркотиков наиболее ярким свойством опиума является стимуляция разговорчивости, воображения или склонности к преувеличению. Со временем любое из этих свойств стало характеризовать наркотическое опьянение; отсюда информацию на любую тему стали называть «допе». «Доповый лист» (dope sheet), «порция информации» (a line of dope) являются естественными ответвлениями этой тенденции переносить признак на новое существительное. Филологам это примечательное наблюдение должно неизменно указывать на полное отсутствие научной связи между искусственным звуковым или визуальным символом и символизируемыми им предметом, качеством или количеством.

Без предварительного обучения человек, одаренный интуицией, может постичь значение большинства этих ходовых терминов, взвешивая контекст предложений, в которые они включены. И все же практическое рабочее знание этих слов должно стать более доступным благодаря частым обращениям к полному списку. Единственное оправдание уголовного сленга — это защита, обеспечиваемая секретностью, после разрушения которой сленг неизбежно увядает, хотя ему на смену естественным образом приходят эволюционирующие языковые средства.

Чтобы брататься с тайным орденом, мы должны вооружиться знанием церемоний и целей, а также средств отбора тайных братьев. Чтобы успешно бороться с преступниками, необходимо понимать всю полноту их средств общения, иначе следователь не сможет сблизиться с ними настолько, чтобы проникнуть глубже как в их поступки, так и в скрытые за ними движущие мотивы. Несомненно, каждый термин в этом словаре знаком какому-нибудь стражу порядка; несомненно также, что каждый содержащийся в нем термин понятен лишь очень немногим лицам даже среди самих преступников. Поэтому было бы несомненной выгодой ознакомиться со всеми ими.

Вооружившись панорамным обзором зарегистрированной преступности за последнее поколение, мы можем грубо разделить уголовные преступления на четыре большие категории: преступления против себя, или рефлексивные преступления против личной нравственности, истоком которых являются невоздержанность и чревоугодие; преступления на сексуальной почве, в основе которых лежат порожденные похотью эмоции; преступления против собственности, подпитываемые грехами алчности или жадности; и насильственные преступления, проистекающие из гнева. Из этих четырех категорий рефлексивные преступления и преступления, связанные с насилием, носят сугубо психологический характер и должны оставаться на усмотрение индивидуума в плане их исправления. Преступления против собственности и преступления на почве сексуальной испорченности составляют основную массу дорогостоящих и хлопотных дел, которые засоряют механизмы наших судов и требуют введения прискорбного государственного налога на содержание пенитенциарных учреждений и изоляторов. Хронические дегенераты, представляющие наибольшую угрозу для общества, включают в себя проституток; гамблеров (игроков); бродяг с разнородными воровскими наклонностями; бродяг-ззломщиков; взломщиков; воров-крадунов; мошенников; нечестных ходатаев, ангажеров и агентов; фальшивомонетчиков; воров, промышляющих товарами; карманников; грабителей сбольшой дороги; а также их подельников: неразборчивых в средствах ростовщиков, беспринципных торговцев спиртным и распространителей наркотиков. Само собой разумеется, что объем и стоимость операций, осуществляемых последней тройкой, свидетельствуют о колоссальных масштабах прямых убытков, которые несет общество из-за извращенной энергии основных профессиональных преступных элементов.

С экономической точки зрения оборот профессиональной преступности грандиозен. Мы теряем около четырехсот миллионов долларов ежегодно из-за криминального элемента в стране. Консервативная оценка числа активных профессиональных преступников высшей и низшей квалификации составляет, вероятно, 100 000 человек. На каждую тысячу населения у нас приходится один полицейский в форме и вдобавок примерно еще один вспомогательный сотрудник на тысячу населения. Это еще 200 000 человек в непроизводительном классе. Адвокаты по уголовным делам и служащие уголовных судов дают еще одну пропорцию — один на тысячу населения, что составляет консервативный итог в 400 000 человек, занятых тем, что они паразитируют на производителях и избавляют их от тягот, вызванных преступлениями против личности и собственности.

Допуская, что средний доход 300 000 полицейских, адвокатов и судейских чиновников составляет около 1 200 долларов в год, мы получаем накладные расходы на производство в размере 360 000 000 долларов. Ущерб, понесенный от хищений преступников, и расходы на их содержание под стражей составляют не менее еще 88 000 000 долларов в год, исходя из расчетной базы в 882 доллара в год на одного преступника. Общий итог — 448 000 000 долларов!

Предположим, средний возраст профессионального преступника составляет 30 лет. Поскольку средние финансовые вложения в индивидуума такого возраста в США составляют 12 600 долларов, его производственный потенциал должен приносить по меньшей мере шесть процентов годовых на вложенный капитал (при наличии профессиональной подготовки) плюс затраты на человеческое содержание; что означает общую способность зарабатывать около 1 170 долларов в год для среднего индивидуума. Или при шести процентах годовых только на инвестиции в личность он представляет собой потенциальное ежегодное добавление 757 долларов к национальному богатству. Добавьте к этому затраты государства на его содержание под стражей, скажем, в среднем 125 долларов в год, и мы получим 882 доллара в год на заключенного. Фактические потери процентов на инвестиции в личность преступника составляют около 75 000 000 долларов на 100 000 заключенных в год; расточительство, увековечиваемое существующей судебной и пенитенциарной системой.

Теперь возьмем во внимание, что средний вор не может украсть 1 170 долларов в год или даже 757 долларов, если принять в расчет время, потерянное в тюрьме. Суть проблемы, судя по всему, заключается в отсутствии у преступника подготовки к полезным ремеслам наряду с моральной деградацией. До сих пор мы экспериментировали главным образом с двумя крайностями в пенитенциарной науке: с одной стороны, использование заключенных для их эксплуатации эгоистичными интересами, а с другой — безработица или труд такого рода, который ведет к снижению уровня эффективности отдельного человека. Развитие профсоюзов подавило реформы, способствующие экономической независимости преступника; и тем не менее преступный элемент пополняется в основном из четвертого сословия. К настоящему времени история пенитенциарной науки демонстрирует определенное развитие работников по поимке и охране в практической стороне дела, но за счет в первую очередь самих задерживаемых. Производители в целом платят проценты по этому долгу, в то время как основную сумму взваливают на себя сами ущербные лица, которые перекладывают ее на будущие поколения.

Что касается морального аспекта проблемы, которую профессиональный преступник ставит перед нацией, то он в конечном счете должен определяться психологией. Невоздержанность, жадность, похоть и гнев — таковы первопричины. Экономическая зависимость — первый результат этих известных качеств, но неизвестных величин.

Как мы собираемся уменьшить эту нависшую над нами проблему? Остракизмом? Стерилизацией? Простым удержанием-репрессией без сопутствующего устранения коренных причин? Что касается остракизма, то глупость бежит от серьезной опасности, в то время как укрепленное интеллектом моральное мужество смотрит ей в лицо и преодолевает ее. Остракизм возрождает и увековечивает кастовое деление общества. Стерилизация столь же порочна в широком моральном смысле, сколь детоубийство в узком; эта теория проистекает из высшей интеллектуальной, моральной и духовной тьмы. Она решает проблему преступности так, как государственный долг решает экономическую проблему — вешает моральную закладную на потомство. Задержание без дарования усваиваемого нравственного подъема и повышения экономической эффективности — аналог сказочного заблуждения страуса. Тюремное заключение в его нынешнем виде дорого обходится и дает мало или вообще ничего, кроме убытков. Содержание правонарушителей в разлагающемся безделье или на работах, которые впоследствии бесплодны для заключенного с точки зрения развития талантов и характера — это столь же непрагматичная, сколь и бесчеловечная полумера, которая бьет по обществу бумерангом.

Но целью предисловия не было вынесение на суд соображений по криминологии и пенитенциарной науке, хотя показалось уместным обратиться к интеллекту заинтересованных мужчин и женщин, поскольку широкое использование следующих идиом имеет глубокое значение. Если эта работа не добьется никакого другого результата, кроме этого, ее следует признать вполне стоящей.

C. R. HELLYER

City Detective Dept., Portland, Ore.

and LOUIS E. JACKSON,

Портленд, штат Орегон, 3 октября 1914 г.

Если в нижеследующем словаре вы обнаружите какие-либо отсутствующие термины, которые, по вашему мнению, должны быть в него включены, вы окажете услугу, сообщив о них издателю.

W. H. THORNTON,

872 Brooklyn St., Portland, Ore.

Словарь криминального сленга\nАлфавитный указатель\nс практическими примерами\nповсеместного употребления

ADMAN, Noun Current amongst literary confidence men. A fake advertising solicitor. See “HUNDRED PER CENT.” ANGEL, Noun General usage. A financial backer. Derived from “good thing.” ARM MAN, Noun Current amongst “heavyweights.” A strong arm man; a holdup; a highway robber. See “PUTEMUPPUT-EM-UP.” ARTILLERY, Noun In general currency. Firearms of any description. See “ROD,” “ROSCOE,” “SMOKEWAGONSMOKE WAGON.” B. A., Noun Current amongst literary confidence men. A book agent who commonly employs confidence methods for obtaining subscriptions or orders.

BADGE, Noun Current amongst “hustlers” and the demi-monde. A badger; a blackmailer; an extortioner. See “SHAKE DOWN.” BALLY HOO, Noun Current amongst exhibition and “flat-joint” grafters. A free entertainment used for a decoy to attract customers. See “READER.” BANNER, Noun General currency. Used in the colloquialism “carrying the banner,” meaning to walk the streets all night or otherwise endure the hardship of loss of sleep. BATCH, Noun General currency. A number; a quantity; a lot; a great many. BELCH, Noun In general usage with all grafters. A protest; a complaint. See “SQUAWK,” “ROAR,” “HOLLER.” Example: “When he blowed his dough he put up an awful belch.” BELCH, Verb Idem Supra. Example: “He cannot stand the gaff without belching.” Also used to denote the giving of information. See “COME THROUGH.” BEN, Noun General usage. An overcoat; derived from Benjamin, in reference to the biblical coat of many colors. BENNY, Noun General usage. A sack coat; derived from Benjamin, some say the biblical character, while others say the New York manufacturer of men’s garments. BENT, Adjective General usage. Crooked; larcenous. See “TWISTED.” Example: “His kisser shows that he’s bent.” BIG TOP, Noun Current amongst circus grafters and “open-air men.” The large tent used by circuses; now evolved to include the meeting of the maximum exhibit possible in any given case. Example: “I’m flopping at the big top,” i. e., “I am rooming at the biggest hotel in town.” BIT, Noun General usage. A portion; a division; a share or a part of anything, as profits or proceeds of a transaction. Example: “You’re supposed to be in on anything that comes off, so you’re entitled to your bit.” BIT, Noun General usage, particularly amongst grafters who operate on the outside of the law. A prison sentence. Example: “He did a bit in Joliet.” Also a share. See “END.” Example: “If you don’t take a chance you’re entitled to no bit.” BLOCK, Noun General usage. A watch. See “SUPER[1],” “TURNIP.” Example: “The wire rung six blocks in the breaks,” i. e., “The tool (pickpocket) detached six watches from their rings in the crowded exit.” As a noun it has another meaning, i. e., a head. See “NOODLE.” Example: “He got his block sapped,” i. e., struck.

[1] There is no entry for “SUPER” in the text.

BLOOMER, Noun Current with genteel grafters. An error; a failure. Example: “We framed wrong and scored a bloomer.” BLOW, Verb General usage. To cease; to get away; to lose; to miss something absent. Examples: “Blow! here comes a bull.” “We blowed some kale that night” (spent it). “Just as the touch was scored the boob blowed his poke.” “A shilliber’s work is to cop and blow,” i. e., to take and give in a gambling, ostensibly winning and losing in good faith from and to a confederate. BLOW CARD, Noun Current amongst gamblers and genteel grafters. Any useless thing or condition; financial embarrassment; the last card; the final play or thing in any series. Examples: “Don’t connect with this wop, he is on the blow card,” i. e., broke. “Pull this one off and call it the blow card.” BOOB, Noun In general usage amongst all sophisticated classes. An inferior in any specific sense; a victim; an unitiateduninitiated person when used by a “gonif.” Derived from booby. BOOSTER, Noun Used by confidential grafters. One who endorses a person, thing or action of immoral nature either by complimentarycomplementary action or by moral support; a helper; a confederate. BOOSTER, Noun In general currency amongst “gonifs.” A shoplifter; a thief who operates in merchandise stores in daytime. A “Boost” is an assistance; “The Boost” is the shoplifting profession. BREAKS, Noun Current amongst pickpockets. Any place of exit where throngs of people pour through en stream, as from a theatre, from a convention or other popular gathering, or from a street or railroad car or from a boat, all of which afford facilities for the pickpocket to operate under cover and in the press of unusual excitement. Example: “The guns are rooting into the swell mob at the Grand Opera breaks.” BREAK UP, Noun Current amongst thieves who specialize in plunder or loot. Melted silver or gold. See “MELT.” BREEZE, Noun General usage. Loquacity; guile; “hot air;” “bull con.” BREEZE, Verb General usage. To deceive; to beguile; to occupy one’s attention; to descant loquaciously. Example: “She breezed everybody on the line.” Also to move on, to leave, to come in or go out. See “BLOW.” BREECH (britch), Noun Current amongst pickpockets chiefly. The rear pants pockets, designated right and left breech, in contradistinction to the front pants pockets, for which see “KICK.” Example: “Fan his right breech for a leather,” i. e., “Feel of his right hip pocket for a pocketbook.” BROAD, Noun Current amongst genteel grafters chiefly. A female confederate; a female companion; a woman of loose morals. See “DONY,” “FLUZIE,” “MUFF[2].” Broad is derived from the far-fetched metaphor of “meal ticket,” signifying a female provider for a pimp, from the fanciful correspondence of a meal ticket to a railroad or other ticket, which latter originally was exclusively used by “gonifs” to indicate “broad,” or a conductor’s hat check. Also a playing card from the deck of fifty-two. A “three-card monte man” is a “BROAD SPIELER”; “Tipping the broads” is riding on a purchased transportation ticket; “Beating the broads” is corrupting the conductor or other collecting functionaire of a transportation line.

[2] There is no entry for “MUFF” in the text.

BUCK, Noun Current generally. A dollar. Example: “They tax you one buck for a room without a bath at the cheapest hotel in the burg.” BUFFALO, Noun General usage in the northern states. A negro. See “DINGE.” BUFFALO, Verb General usage. To bluff; to intimidate; to frighten. Example: “The dick buffaloed him into tipping his plant.” BUG, Noun Used by alms beggars. A fearful looking sore artificially produced to simulate a burn or scald by the use of Spanish blister. BULL, Noun General usage. Misrepresentation; a lie; deception. Probably derived from the financial term bull, which in polite and legal circles signifies inflation, optimism. See “BREEZE.” Also used to indicate an officer of the law whose function is to apprehend or arrest, whether a constable, marshal, sheriff, detective or policeman. BULL CON, Noun Supra idem. BUMP, BUMP OFF, Verb Current amongst heavyweights and desperate characters chiefly, though understood by grafters generally. To kill; reflectively it signifies suicide. Examples: “He bumped himself off when he saw that the game was up.” “He copped a cuter and got bumped making a get-away.” BUNCO, Noun General currency. Deceit. Derived from “BUNCOMBE.” BUNK, Noun In general currency. Deceit; ostentation. Derived by corruption of form while retaining the meaning of “Bunco,” a contraction of buncombe. Example: “If you fall for this bunk you’re a simp.” BUNK, Verb General usage. To employ misrepresentation; to defraud; to cheat; to establish confidential relations with intent to abuse the influence so acquired. Example: “The frame-up in the play was to bunk the sucker with protection and scare team work.” BURNEYS, Noun Current amongst “hop-heads,” dope fiends. A catarrh powder containing an illicit proportion of cocaine, used as a snuff, administered with a combination detachable rubber and glass blowing tube. BUZZARD, Noun Current amongst pickpockets. A timid or amateur or low life “gun” who operates on “molls,” women. Example: “The moll buzzards tore into the jam at the market house on Saturday night and glommed a batch of pokes.” BUZZER, Noun Current mainly in western circles. An officer’s badge or star, the insignia of authority. Example: “Who are you? says he. For reply I flashed my buzzer.” Derived, doubtless, from the metal disc toy with starlike points which revolves by pulling crossed strings which pass through it. CAN, Noun General usage. A place of confinement; a prison; a cell. A practical metaphor for a receptacle designed to confine or bottle humans. Also a lavatory, toilet, urinal. Example: “He rumbled and made the can.” See “CANISTER.” CAN, Verb General usage. To discharge; to eliminate. Derived from the prankish cruelty of tieing a tin can to a dog’s tail, whose effectual purpose is to get rid of a useless or undesirable object. Example: “He made so many bad breaks we had to can him.” CANISTER, Noun Current chiefly amongst prison habitues. A prison. Also in use amongst crooks who resort to the use of weapons, denoting a firearm. Example: “He’ll stick his hands up if you flash the canister.” CANNON, Noun General currency. A revolver. In pickpocket parlance it signifies a pickpocket of indefinite order. See “GUN,” “GONIF.” CASES, Noun General usage. Observation; scrutiny; survey. Example: “Keep cases on his actions and you will learn his motive.” Also an ultimate, a finality, the last of a series of things or actions. Example: “He hasn’t turned a trick for so long that he is down to cases.” The term is derived from gambler’s parlance; in faro bank the recording of cards turned out of the dealer’s box is denominated “keeping cases,” whilst the last card to remain in the box is called the “case card.” “Down to cases” is used to signify that the cards are all dealt and played; the money or resources at an end. CASE, Verb General usage. To watch; to observe; to scrutinise. CAT HOP, Noun Current amongst gamblers. See “KITTY HOP.” CENTURY, Noun General usage. A hundred; a hundred dollar bill. CHIP, Noun Current amongst burglars and store prowlers. A cash-box; a till; a cash drawer without belling device. A cash receptacle with belling device is called a “combination chip,” or a “damper,” or a “dinger.” Example: “He copped a heel on the chip and glommed a century.” CHIV, Noun In general use amongst yeggs and rough-neck criminals. A knife; a sharp-edged tool or weapon. Derived from the French word “chef,” by reason of a cook’s use of a carving knife, though the French term for knife is “canif.” CHIV, Verb Supra idem. To cut; to slash; used only in regard to an attack upon a human. Example: “Beware of that geezer that he does not chiv you.” CHOP, Verb General usage. To quit; to cease. CHUMP, Noun General usage. An unsophisticated individual; a victim; an inferior; an “angel”; a “captain.” See “JOHN.” CLATTER, Noun General usage. A patrol wagon. CLAW, Noun Current amongst pickpockets. The “tool”; the “jerve”; the “wire”; or the expert operator in a “gun mob” who lifts the money and valuable collateral from the victim’s person. Example: “Our mob is working under one of the speediest claws in the country.” CLAW, Verb General usage. To snatch; to appropriate; to annex. CLEAN, Adjective General usage. A state of financial embarrassment; exhausted supply of a given property. Example: “He wasn’t very dirty when he got in town, but he is thoroughly clean now.” CLEAN, Verb General usage. To take all one possesses of a given commodity; to deplete one’s assets. Example: “He headed in wrong with that bunch and got cleaned.” Also used by exponents of the art of self-defense to indicate the infliction of defeat upon an opponent. Example: “He made a pass at me and I cleaned him in one, two, three.” CLOUT, Verb In currency amongst the plunderbund. To purloin any kind of valuables in any manner. COME-ON, Noun General usage. A prospective victim; a “steered” prospect. COME THROUGH, Verb General usage. To give up, to deliver, to surrender any secret information or any material goods demanded. Example: “After I showed him the situation was in our hands he came through with the dope.” In pickpocket parlance “to come through” describes a function of one of the “wire’s” “stalls,” consisting of a frontal attack or sudden onslaught upon an intended victim with the purpose of bewildering the latter in order that the “wire” may operate upon the victim from the rear; or, the relative positions may be reversed, when the “stall” should “come through” from the rear. Example: “Precede this mark through the car door, wheel and come through just as he descends the steps.” CON, Noun General usage. A convict; a lie; a misrepresentation. See “BUNK.” CON, Verb General usage. To ingratiate; to establish confidential relations. See “BUNK.” COP, Noun General currency. A policeman. COP, Verb General usage. See “CLOUT.” Cop is an old Cockney flash-word and signifies capture; conquer. Example: “Booze and the blowers (women) cops the lot.” COPPER, Noun Current amongst prison habitues. The commutation or good time allowed prisoners for good behavior. Example: “You grab one month copper off the first year.” COSE, Noun General usage. A five-centpiece. “Cosan” is a ten-centpiece. CRACK, Verb General usage. To talk. For example see “EYE FULL.” CRAB, Noun General usage. A grouchy, stingy person; of inferior quality in intellectuality or habits. See “PIKER[3].”

[3] There is no entry for “PIKER” in the text.

CRAB, Verb General usage. To spoil or ruin or render impossible any plan of action. Example: “This fink crabbed the play and we went on the nut for a double saw-bucksawbuck.” CRAP, Noun General usage. Treachery. See “BUNK,” “BULL,” “CON.” CREEP, Verb Current amongst prowlers and panel-joint workers. To use stealth; to crawl. CREEP, Noun Current amongst crooked pimps. A creeper, a crawler who searches the clothes of a victim while the latter is abed with the creep’s paramour. CROKE, Verb General usage. Passively it means to die; actively it is used as an elegant expression for murder. Examples: “He croked himself with bichloride.” “The copper got croked in the jack-potjackpot.” CRIMPY, Adjective Used by yeggs principally. Cold, applied to the weather. CROKER, Noun General usage. A physyicianphysician. CROSSLOTS, Adverb In use amongst yeggs, hobos and the meandering unemployed. Cross-country; away from frequented routes of traffic; by star route. Example: “In the get-away they hammed twenty miles cross lots.” CROW, Adjective Current amongst shoplifters and pennyweighters. Poor; mean; trivial; insignificant; worthless. Example: “There’s a bale of slum in the joint, but it’s all crow.” CROWNS, Noun Used by drug fiends. Same as “BURNEYS.” CRUSH, Noun General usage. A forcible entry or exit. Also as verb. CUT TO THE BRAKESBREAKS, Verb Current amongst gamblers and ready-money grafters. Reducing action to its lowest terms; displaying only the essential. Example: “The mark stalled to the can, gunned his soft and cut to the breaks,” i. e., “The victim retired to the lavatory, inspected his bank-roll and separated the amount required to finance the intended operation.” CUTER, Noun Used by gamblers and western criminals. A surprise; a fool; a josh; “a boob.” For example of first-cited value see “BUMP.” DAMPER, Noun Used by prowlers and daylight “heels.” A combination cash drawer or register. See “CHIP.” DANGLER, Noun Current amongst jewelry thieves and those who commit larceny from the person. A watch fob; an earring; a pendant; any article of jewelry which swings free at one end. DEAD ONE, Noun General usage. One who is useless in any specific case; out of funds. DERRICK, Noun Current amongst shoplifters chiefly. A “hoister”; a “lifter”; a “booster”; an “elevator.” Example: “The boosters are making a plunge with a derrick ben.” In this sense it is used as an adjective, but can be transposed for “boosters.” DICK, Noun General usage. A detective. See “RICHARD.” DINGE, Noun General usage. A negro. See “BUFFALO.” DIP, Noun Current amongst pickpockets. See “CLAW”; “WIRE”; “JERVE”; “TOOL”; “GUN”; “CANNON”; “GONIF.” A common term for a pickpocket of any degree. DISE, Noun Current amongst store burglars, shoplifters, and box-car thieves or “RAT WORKERS” mainly. A contraction of merchandise. Loot; plunder; effects that can readily be disposed of in the market as new goods. Example: “There’s a mob riding the rattlers between here and the junction who have a dise plant stashed (cached) in the jungles.” DONY, Noun Current amongst pimps and free lovers chiefly. A female member of the demi-monde. See “HOOKER”; “JANE”; “FILLY”; “MUFF[4].” Derived from the Hebrew “yoni,” the female sex organ.

[4] There is no entry for “MUFF” in the text.

DOSS, Noun General currency. A place to sleep; a bed. See “KIP”; “FLOP.” Example: “Stake me to two-bits to get a doss.” Apparently from the French “je dors,” I sleep. DOUBLE, Noun General usage. A conspiracy to deceive or defraud a victim; the “double-cross.” Example: “He got the double.” DUCAT, Noun Current amongst genteel grafters. A ticket of admission or transportation. See “BROAD.” Example: “The ducat box was crushed last night,” i. e., “The ticket office was burglarized.” DUCK, Verb General currency. To retire; to leave; to flee; to disappear. DUKE, Noun Used by gamblers and genteel grafters. A fist; a hand; glad hand; a hand in a card game. “Reading the duke” is “fortune-telling by palmistry”; “tipping your duke” is “betraying your intention”; “cropping his duke” is reading an opponent’s hand by trickery in a card game. DUKIE, Noun Used by yeggmen and hobos. A hand-out, or donation of cold victuals to a beggar. See “LUMP.” DUMMY, Noun Current amongst yeggmen, hobos and prison habitues. Bread. See “PUNK.” DUMP, Noun General usage. A rendezvous; an establishment of any kind; a hangout; a joint; a meeting place. DRAG, Noun General currency. An influence with one in authority; a “pull”; a main thoroughfare in any community; the main street. See “STEM.” Examples: “The boys are pivoting on the main drag,” i. e., begging on the street; “The muffs are cruising on the drag tonight,” i. e., soliciting on the street. Amongst female impersonators on the stage and men of dual sex instincts “drag” denotes female attire donned by a male. Example: “All the fagots (sissies) will be dressed in drag at the ball tonight.” Also an inhalation of smoke, tobacco or opium. DROP, Noun General currency. An apprehension in criminal action. See “FALL”; “SNEEZE”; “RUMBLE”; “TUMBLE.” Also used as a verb to express the action corresponding to a similar state. Example of the latter: “The tribe dropped a man in the day’s work,” i. e., lost one by arrest. “We had to drop a stall for missing too many meets,” i. e., discharged him. Command or control by reason of advantage in an exigency when shooting may be expected. EIGHT DIE CASE, Noun Current amongst open-air or “sure-thing” grafters. See “FLAT JOINT.” A glass showcase containing numbered prizes, as jewelry or gewgaws, for which eight dice are thrown by players, the totality of spots on the eight dice corresponding with the numbers on the prizes. The secret of this graft consists in the dealer’s fraudulent counting of the spots arbitrarily and disarranging them before the victim can finish the count. ELBOW, Noun General usage in cosmopolitan centers. A detective. See “RICHARD”; “DICK.” ELEVATOR, Noun In shoplifter’s and holdup men’s parlance. A lifter; a booster; a hoister; a “stick-up” man. See “PUT-EM-UP.” END, Noun General currency. A share; a portion; a division. See “BIT.” EYE (The), Noun General currency amongst long-odds criminals. The Pinkerton Detective Agency; an operative of the Pinkerton Agency. Example: “Blow this joint; it’s protected by the Eye.” EYE FULL, Noun General usage. The object of scrutiny or of attentive observation. See “STRETCHING.” Example: “Nix Crackin’! The mark on your left is getting an eye full.” FALL, Noun General currency. An arrest. See “RUMBLE”; “DROP.” Example: “He was soused when he attempted to pull off the stunt and got a fall.” Used as a verb, “to fall for” is to be deceived by; to be taken in; to be influenced. FALL DOUGH, Noun Current amongst criminals who operate under clique or fraternal organization. A fund kept in reserve for protection, to be expended in procuring legal representation, bail, or bribery of officers or court functionaries. Example: “No one can join out unless he puts up five centuries for fall dough.” FALL GUY, Noun General currency. A scapegoat; a victim. See “FALL.” FAN, Verb In pickpocket parlance. To surreptitiously feel a victim’s pockets, or inadvertently brush the person for the purpose of locating an object sought, as pocketbook, watch or weapon. Example: “Fan the pratt for a poke.” FIEND, Noun Used by narcotic habitues chiefly. One addicted to the use of drugs, as a “hop fiend,” a “dope fiend.” FILL, Verb General currency amongst gang criminals. To join a mob, as of guns, or of confidence men, and thus fill a vacancy in the organization. Example: “If you know a good man who can make a fill steer him in.” FILLY, Noun General usage. A young woman of questionable morals, not necessarily criminal by choice but potentially so. See “SKIRT”; “JANE”; “MUFF[5].”

[5] There is no entry for “MUFF” in the text.

FINGER, Noun Current amongst criminals who localize more or less extensively. See “STOOL[6].” An informer; an investigator for officers. Example: “He got the push sneezed by mixing with a finger.”

[6] There is no entry for “STOOL” in the text.

FINGER PRINT, Noun Current amongst confidence crooks who specialize in paper securities or signed orders for merchandise or service. A signature; an endorsement. Example: “Put your finger print on this line.” See “JOHN HANCOCK.” FINK, Noun Current chiefly in eastern criminal circles. An unreliable confederate or incompetent sympathizer. See “CRAB”; “LOB.” Example: “We staked him to a day’s work for a try-out, but he proved to be a fink.” FISH EYE, Noun General currency. A diamond. See “PROP.” FIX, Noun Used in general criminal parlance. A condition of security where grafters may operate with impunity. Example: “Don’t pay any attention to the bulls; it’s a fix.” FIXER, Noun General currency. One who acts as go-between for thieves and bribe takers. Example: “If you get a rumble, send for Jones, the mouthpiece; he’s a sure-shot fixer and can square anything short of murder.” FLAGGINGS, Noun Used by yeggs and hobos. Meat of any description, usually applied to cold victuals. Example: “If you are not a vegetarian, stay away from that man’s burg, for flaggings is scarce.” FLAP, Noun Current amongst pimps and criminals who are contemptuous of female values. An opprobrious epithet for loose women. Also employed to designate the female sex organ. FLASH, Verb General currency. To show; to exhibit; to submit an object for inspection. FLAT JOINT, Noun Current amongst open-air sure-thing men who operate at circus gatherings, fairs, carnivals, any gaming establishment where fortune is presumed to wait upon skill combined with risk. The “TIVOLI”; the “SWINGING BALL”; the “SPINDLE”; the “PINCH WHEEL”; the “PADDLES”; the “SHELLS”; “THREE CARD MONTE”; the “EIGHT DIE CASE”; the “FISH POND”; the “DISCS” are all grafting flat joints. The term is derived from the essentiality in all of these crooked devices of a counter or other flat area across or upon which the swindle may be conducted. FLIM, Noun Current in polite criminal circles. A swindle; a fraud. See “BUNK”; “TWISTED.” Derived from “flim-flam.” FLIM, Verb Supra idem. To swindle; to defraud. Used especially by short-change experts. See “LAYING”; “FLOPPER.” FLOATER, Noun General currency in police circles. A suspended sentence; a mandatory order to quit a community or locality. Example: “The rap wasn’t strong enough, so they took a floater.” FLOP, Noun Current amongst yeggs, dope fiends, prison habitues and to some extent in general use by initiates in the mysteries of informal annexation. A bed; a place to sit, recline or lie down. Also used by short changers as a synonym of “flim.” FLOP, Verb Same as above. To sit or lie down. Example: “Let’s flop here on the grass and pound our ear.” Also used by money changers to signify fraud by confusion. Example: “There’s a muff in that candy store that can be flopped because she can’t count change.” FLOPPER, Noun In general use by money changers, switchers (substituters); flim-flammers. See “LAYING.” Example: “He calls himself a star flopper, but he’s crabbing a string of good lays by hyping with a deuce where a saw buck could be changed just as readily.” See “HYPER.” FRAME, Noun General currency. A prearranged plan of action; a secret implying sinister intention; a “frame-up.” The contraction is used for greater secretiveness, as is the case with all terms which have become the common property of both criminals and their enemies. Example: “What’s the frame for putting this one over? The lemon.” FRISK, Noun General usage. A search; a “shake-down”; an examination of the contents of one’s pockets, of a room, of receptacles or of a community. Example: “Give him a frisk and see if he has a rod.” FRISK, Verb Supra idem. Example: “Frisk everybody that enters the hall.” FRONT, Noun Some general currency, but used mainly by crooks whose operations require a shield or distraction. An auxiliary defense; a “stall”; a secondary who interposes his person or contributes overtly to a surreptitious action. Example: “Give me a front here till I nick this leather.” FRONT, Verb See above. To hide; to conceal a principal in open criminal action. See “STALL.” Example: “Front me out of this joint and don’t lose my left wing.” FLUZIE, Noun Current in the cosmopolitan demi-monde. A woman; a questionable female character. See “DONY”; “HOOKER.” GAFF, Noun In general currency. An offensive action, thing or condition, of vague, complex or undetermined meaning. It is variously employed or construed to mean defeat, punishment, failure, or the instruments of these. Example: “There’ll be no hop-heads joining out with this mob, for they can’t stand the gaff.” GANDER, Noun General currency. An inquisitorial glance; a searching look; an impertinent gazing or staring. Also the simple act of looking or seeing. See “RUBBER[7]”; “EYE FULL.” Example: “Take a gander at this dump as we pass, and don’t get the eye of the guinea inside.”

[7] There is no entry for “RUBBER” in the text.

GAP, Noun Supra idem. General currency. Used also as a verb. GASH, Noun General currency. An invidious term for woman; synonymous with flap, which see. GAT, Noun General usage. A gun; a pistol; a firearm. See “ROD”; “ROSCOE.” Derived from “Gatling.” GAZABO, Noun In general use, but originating in the East. A man; any man without regard to qualities. GAZUNY, Noun Supra idem. Current in ultra slangy circles. A man. GEEZER, Noun General circulation. A drink of liquor; a man (contemptuously). GINK, Noun General currency. Synonymous with “gazabo,” “gazuny,” “gink[8].”

[8] “Gink” cannot be a synonym for itself. The author probably intended “geezer.”

GLIM, Noun General usage. A light; a lamp; a match. Also used as a verb, signifying illuminated. Example: “Go and take a pike (peek) at the dump and see if it’s glimmed.” GLIMS, Noun General currency. A pair of spectacles or nose glasses. See “SCENERIES”; “RINGERSRINGER.” GLOM, Verb General currency. To grab; to snatch; to take; implying violence. Example: “Glom this short and drop off two blocks below.” GOBBLED, Verb, Past Part. General currency. Arrested. See “NAILED.” GONGER, Noun Current amongst opium smokers and drug fiends. An opium pipe. Also used in the diminutive form of “GONGERINE.” GONIF, Noun General currency. A thief of any class; a pickpocket. The term is taken intact from the Hebrew and is used mostly by pickpockets. See “GUN”; “CANNON”; “BUZZARD.” Also a verb, to rob. GOOSEBERRY, Noun Current amongst yeggs, hobos and meanderers. A clothesline; laundry hung up to dry. Example: “He prowled a gooseberry for a skin.” GOPHER, Noun Current amongst yeggs chiefly. A safe; a strong box. See “PETE.” GRAB, Verb General currency. Passively it signifies arrested; actively it signifies the imperfect past action of arresting or seizing. Example: “Steer clear of the tip: It’s made and you are liable to get grabbed.” See “GLOMMED”; “SNEEZEZDSNEEZED.” GRIFT, Noun General usage. Graft; an opportunity for plying criminal talents. Example: “How’s grift on the shorts in the winter? Crow. Too many togs.” GROUCH BAG, Noun Current amongst yeggs and western thieves. A place, as a pocket or receptacle, for concealing money or valuables; a reserve fund held in secret to the exclusion of fraternists. Example: “He’s under cover with a grouch bag.” GUFF, Noun Current amongst yeggs, sailors, and old-timers. Palaver; conversation; a contumelious synonym for egotism. See “BREEZE.” GUINEA, Noun General usage. In the sense of a man it is synonymous with “gazabo,” “gink,” “mark”; it also means an Italian, as well as Europeans generally. GUMP, Noun Current amongst yeggs, hobos and peripatetics generally. A chicken; a fowl. Examples: “We’re going down in the jungles and have a gump stew.” GUM SHOE, Noun General currency. A detective; a silent trailer. See “PUSSY FOOT.” GUN, Noun Current amongst pickpockets chiefly, though enjoying familiar usage in general circles. A pickpocket. See “CANNON”; “GONIF.” GUN, Verb General usage. To watch; to scrutinize. See “GANDER”; “GAP.” Used both as verb and noun to express action or thing. Examples: “Nix! There’s a dick on the corner gunning us.” “He’s giving us a gun.” GUN MAN, Noun General currency. A gun fighter. GUNNELS, Noun Used by all classes of criminals who beat their way on trains. The curved trusses extending from end to end underneath both freight and passenger cars. Example: “The only way you can ride this rattler tonight is to make the gunnels or the rods.” GUNSHEL, Noun Current amongst yeggs chiefly, A boy; a youth; a neophyte of trampdom. Example: “The tribe’s got a gunshel pivoting on the stem with a bug,” i. e., “The gang of tramps have sent a boy up on the main street to beg under pretense of having a wounded or disabled arm or limb.” The term “bug” is derived from railroad parlance, denoting a signal attached to the front of the engine as an indication of the train’s nature, attracting attention. GUTS, Noun General currency. Nerve; “sand”; ability to withstand the most powerful emotions. A metaphor derived from the common experience of depressing sensation concomitant with an inrush of the violent emotions of fear, horror or other moral obstructions. To have “guts” is to be unencumbered with conscientious scruples relative to the object contemplated. Amongst yeggs and others familiar with clandestine railroading the “guts” signifies the various construtciveconstructive parts underneath a car, or the hidden essentials of rolling stock. Example: “We’ll ride the guts tonight over this division,” i. e., the gunnels, rods, brake-beams, trucks. GUY, Noun Eastern currency mainly. A man. “TO GUY” is to ridicule. GYP, Noun Current in polite circles. The act of short-changing; a duplicity; a defrauding by substitution; an action that belies a professed sincerity. Example: “Look out for this guy, he’s a clever agent to slip you a gyp.” Derived from the popular experience with thieving Gypsies. GYP, Verb Some general currency, but especially significant amongst short changers. To flim-flam; to cheat by means of guile and manual dexterity. See “HYPE”; “FLOP”; “LAYING.” Example: “Gyp this boob with a deuce.” Also used by “flat-joint” grafters, comprehending the general meaning of face-to-face criminal transactions. HABIT, Noun Current amongst dope fiends. Necessity for opiates; a craving; the condition produced by habitual indulgence in drugs. See “YEN-YENYEN YEN.” Example: “I must drop into the hotel donegan (lavatory) and fire (take a hypodermic injection), for I feel my habit coming on.” HACK, Noun Current amongst yeggmen and prowlers, in general. A night watchman; a night policeman or marshal. Most usually it signifies the watchman of a building. Used as a verb in the past participle it describes the accomplished function of a night watchman. Example: “The joint’s hacked but not kipped,” i. e., watched but not occupied by a sleeper. HAM, Verb General usage. To walk. Example: “If we get a tumble, it’s a case of ham.” HANDLES, Noun Limited usage, chiefly by criminals who understand more or less about physiognomical description and disguises. Side-whiskers; “mutton chops.” HANKY PANK, Noun Current in polite slangy circles. Insincere or trifling small talk; flattery; garrulousness. See “BREEZE”; “BULL.” HARDWARE, Noun Current chiefly amongst merchandise thieves. Weapons; knives; razors; tools and paraphernalia used by safecrackers and forcible entry prowlers. Used by holdup men to signify a weapon. Example: “Fan him for hardware.” HARNESS, Noun General currency. A uniform; a shoplifter’s equipment for concealing merchandise. A “harness bull” is the commonest form of the term’s use, signifying a uniformed policeman in contradistinction to a plain clothes officer or detective. HARP, Noun General currency. An Irishman; used principally to designate the raw type. HARPOON, Noun General currency. A metaphor for lampoon; used as a verb it signifies to “give a person the worst of it.” See “GAFF.” HATCH, Noun General usage. A calaboose; a prison; police station; a jail. Derived from the nautical term “booby-hatch.” See “CAN”; “WICKY.” Example: “The only way he can be sprung is to crush the hatch.” HEAVY WEIGHT, Noun Current amongst long-odds crooks. A desperate thief; a husky capable of delivering a dangerous attack in the event of personal encounter; a yegg; a burglar; a “stick-up man.” HEEL, Noun General currency. An incompetent; an undesirable; an inefficient or pusillanimous pretender to sterling criminal qualifications. See “FINK”; “DEAD ONE”; “CRAB”; “LOB.” Used also in the sense of “sneak” as noun and verb, to stalk. HEP, Noun General circulation. Sapiency; understanding; “next”; “on.” Derived from the name of a fabulous detective who operated in Cincinnati, the legend has it, who knew so much about criminality and criminals that his patronymic became a byword for the last thing in wisdom of illicit possibilities. Example: “Chop the skirmish; he’s hep.” HICKS, Noun Current amongst “sure-thing” grafters. The walnut husks used in the three shell and pea game. Example: “This proposition is as sure as fate and as strong as the hicks.” HIP, Noun General currency. A burden; an attachment; a responsibility; an incubus. Examples: “I can’t see you tonight; I’ve got a Jane on my hip.” “What’s the use of taking more on your hip?” Also used to denote being shadowed or followed. Example: “Don’t round, we’ve got somebody on our hip.” Always used colloquially. Also current amongst opium smokers, designating the act of lying on the side to smoke the “pipe.” HIRAM, Noun Current chiefly amongst yeggmen. A metaphor taken from masonry to signify initiation into the secrets of the yegg profession. A synonym for yegg, adopted when the latter term acquired too much notoriety. Example: “By way of the Hiram!” An exclamatory challenge or password used for a “feeler” to probe the state of mind of the encountered one. HOBO, Noun General usage. A tramp, not necessarily of criminal tendencies. HOIST, Noun Current amongst shoplifters mainly. The profession of shoplifting. See “BOOSTER”; “DERRICK.” Example: “What’s his grift? He’s on the hoist.” HOOKS, Noun Current amongst shoplifters. A set of steel hooks shaped like the letter “U,” fastened through the cloth of a heavy “boosting ben” under the armpits; concealed from the outside view by a pad of cloth similar in pattern to the cloth of the coat and having the inner arm of the hook filed to a needle-like sharpness; upon the hook merchandise may be hung, or slung around the operator’s back and suspended from both hooks. When not in use the hooks’ sharp points are sheathed in cork to prevent injury to the person. They are instantaneously detachable and may be “sloughed” by an expert without detection. “Hooks” also signifies the worst of a bargain. “HOOK” means a thief; “HOOKY” is larcenous. HOOKER, Noun General currency. A prostitute. See “DONY”; “FLUZYFLUZIE.” HOLLER, Noun General currency. A protest; a vehement refutation. See “BELCH”; “WOLF”; “SQUAWK.” Example: “Did the sucker make a holler? Sure he rumbled the touch before we blowed the joint and made a roar.” HOMBRE, Noun Western usage. A man. From the Spanish for man. HOPSCOTCH, Verb General usage. To jump or travel about from place to place. HOOP, Noun General currency, though used most frequently by “short-odds” grafters who practice merchandising by unlicensed solicitation. A finger ring. A “phony hoop” is a gold-plated ring. Grafters of mediocre intellectuality seek protection from apprehension for vagrancy by carrying a stock of “hoops,” “glims” and “supers,” or “blocks” (watches). Not to be confounded with the jovial exclamation, “Whoops! my dear,” of fairies and theatrical characters. HOP MERCHANT, Noun Current amongst drug habitues. A dispenser of opium and opiates. Usually applied to drug peddlers who have no established headquarters, but are itinerant. HUCKS, Noun Current amongst “sure-thing” grafters. The walnut shells used in the three shell game. See “HICKS”; “NUTS.” Example: “We’ll make the ball game on Sunday and play the hucks.” HUMP, Noun Current amongst prison habitues. The middle of a term; the half-way point in a prison sentence. Example: “How long have you got yet on your bit? I’m just over the hump.” HUNCH, Noun General usage. An inspiration; an intuition; an “office.” HUNDRED PER CENT, Noun Used by sure-thing admen, by confidence grafters who maintain the plausible appearance of giving value for moneys received, but who in reality give nothing. Fake advertising is the principal hundred per cent graft. HUNKIE, Noun Current in localities where North European laborers abound. A corruption of Hungarian, but employed to signify a Continental European who is unwashed and unnaturalized. HUSTLER, Noun General currency. A grafter; a pimp who steals betimes. The genteel thief is designated a “hustler.” HYPER, Noun Current amongst money-changers. A flim-flammer; a layer of currency, that is, one who makes a purchase and tenders a bank note and after receiving proper change pretends to discover the exact amount of change required to pay for the goods purchased and thereupon declares his preference for the bank note rather than for the change. In the exchange he strives to confuse the obliging changemaker for the purpose of obtaining an excess of his proper due. Or, the “hyper” requests a bank note for subsidiary coin and upon being accommodated ostentatiously seals the bank note in an addressed envelope. The merchant discovers that the subsidiary coin is less than the stated amount and demands his bank note, whereupon a substitute envelope is tendered by the “hyper” with a request that he hold it until the “hyper” returns to his home and secures the additional small change. There are other systems of the “hyper” in vogue, but the principle is the same in all. IN DUTCH, Adverb General usage. Mistaken; in trouble. See “JACK POTJACKPOT.” JAB, Noun Current amongst morphine and cocaine fiends. A hypodermic injection. JACKPOT, Noun General currency. A dilemma; a difficult strait; a retribution; trouble; an arrest. See “JINX”; “IN DUTCH.” Example: “Where’s Joe? He pulled a raw-jaw stunt and made a jackpot.” JAKE, Noun General currency amongst cosmopolitan crooks. The state of knowing; familiarity with a secret or a scheme or meaning. See “HEP”; “JOE.” Example: “You’re making a boob out of yourself; he’s Jake to the whole works.” As an adjective “jake” means good; satisfactory; acceptable; all-right. JAMB, Noun Current chiefly amongst yeggs and prowlers. The state of being closed, as a store or house; locked up; inaccessible. See “Sloughed,” not in the sense of “sluffed” as the same word is sometimes used, though with the latter pronunciation while retaining the former spelling. Example: “The front’s in the jamb; try the rear.” Also used to signify trouble in the sense of “JACK POTJACKPOT.” JANE, Noun General currency. A woman, though not in any opprobrious sense; the sexual complement of the term “JOHN,” a man. JERVE, Noun Current amongst pickpockets. A vest pocket; the “tool”; the “wire”; the “claw” in a gun mob. Examples: “Go after the left jerve for a bundle of scratch.” “The jerve was nailed bang to rights coming through the tip.” JESSIE, Noun General currency. A bluff; a threat. Example: “He rang in a jessie and got away with it.” JIG, Noun General currency. An affair; a misfortune; a mistake. Example: “He used bad judgment and got into a jig.” JIGGER, Noun Current amongst yeggs and tramps. A fake wound, burn, scald, or other crippled condition. See “BUG”; “P. P.” Example: “They’re all jigger bums.” JIGGER, Verb Supra idem. An exclamation of warning; an injunction to cease; to mar; to spoil; to deface or derange. Examples: “Jigger! The bull’s coming.” “You’ve jiggered the lock.” JIM, Noun General currency. A cheap, inferior or worthless thing. Contraction of “JIM CROW.” See “CROW.” JIM, Verb General currency. A synonym for “JIGGER.” Example: “Lay off! You’ll jim the whole works.” JIMMY, Noun Used mainly by yeggs and prowlers. A burglar’s tool. A short, powerful chisel or lever used by thieves for prying doors and windows open. JIMMY, Verb Supra idem. To pry or wrench loose with any instrument. JINKS, JINX, Noun General usage. In difficult straits. See “IN DUTCH.” JITNEY, Noun General currency. A nickel; a dime; a small coin; a picayune. Used variously to signify an extremity in finance. Example: “Break away; he hasn’t got a jitney.” JOE, Noun General currency in polite criminal circles. Wise; sophisticated. See “Hep,” of which “JOE” and “JAKE” are subdivisions or contractions or substitutions. JOHN, Noun General currency amongst the demi-monde. A “captain”; a “sucker”; an amorous fool with money and free love proclivities. Also a man in a contemptuous sense. Examples: “She’s got a John keeping her.” “Ask this John what time the train starts.” JOHN HANCOCK, Noun Current amongst confidence men and paper grafters generally. A signature. Derived from the common observation that John Hancock, of Revolutionary fame, wrote a massive, extremely legible hand. See “FINGER PRINT.” JOINT, Noun General currency. A business establishment; a hangout. Sometimes used as a synonym of “DUMP,” though it does not necessarily imply meanness or disrepute. Example: “Let’s drop in this joint and buy a suit of clothes.” JOLT, Noun General usage. A prison sentence; a penalization; a blow; a physical or moral jar. Example: “He did a jolt once before in Joliet.” JOHN O’BRIEN, Noun Current generally. A freight train, used in contradistinction to a “RATTLER,” a passenger train. Example: “You can see by his clothes that he has been riding John O’s.” Amongst “yeggs” it signifies also a moneyless safe. JUG, Noun General currency. A prison; a bank; a secret receptacle for money or compact valuables. Example: “Tail this mark to the jug and case what he draws,” i. e., “observe what money he draws.” JUNGLE, Noun Current amongst yeggs. A loafing place or hang out beyond a city’s limits, whether in the woods or not. An isolated or little frequented spot. JUNK, Noun General currency. Inferior goods; any property of relative worthlessness. Example: “Everything in his keister is junk.” KALE, Noun General currency. Bank notes; money of any kind. Evolved from the term “GREEN GOODS,” the latter metaphor for money being derived from the greenish aspect of currency. Example: “He’s got a bundle of kale that would choke a cow.” KEISTER, Noun General currency. A satchel; a handbag; a small grip. Example: “What’s his grift? He prowls the depots for keisters.” KICK, Noun Some general currency, but employed most effectively by pickpockets. In common usage it signifies a pocket, any pocket; amongst “guns” it is used exclusively to signify a front pants pocket. Also a protest, a “squawk.” KINK, Noun General circulation. A crook; a larcenous criminal. See “HOOKHOOKS”; “HUSTLER.” Example: “Are there any kinks in the joint?” Also used by yeggs to designate a non-criminal tramp, or one who is not initiated into the particular craft of the speaker. In this latter sense the term is derived from the epithet “gay-cat,” meaning a “working plug.” Example: “Cut him out; he’s got forty-seven kinks in his tail.” KIP, Noun General usage. A bed; a place to sleep. See “PAD”; “DOSS”; “FLOP.” Used also as a verb, to sleep, to go to bed, etc. KISSER, Noun General circulation. The countenance. See “MOOSH”; “MUG[9].” Example: “You’ll recognize him by his hatchet kisser.”