| Title: | The Joy of Lex |
| Notice: | A Notes File even your grammar could love |
| Moderator: | THEBAY::SYSTEM |
| Created: | Fri Feb 28 1986 |
| Last Modified: | Mon Jun 02 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 1192 |
| Total number of notes: | 42769 |
While we're still in the Reference Section, perhaps someone
could nominate a favorite dictionary of slang?
>\
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 78.1 | Partridge | MARVIN::KNOWLES | Fri Jul 10 1987 09:58 | 4 | |
Eric Partridge - now dead - compiled several. I wouldn't call them
'favourite', but in England people often regard them as authoritative.
I think the most complete one is called 'A Dictionary of Slang'.
| |||||
| 78.2 | MLNIT5::FINANCE | Mon Jul 13 1987 09:11 | 5 | ||
MLNOIS::HARBIG
Partridge's "Song and Slang of the British Soldier"
is very interesting as well.
Max
| |||||
| 78.3 | Victorian slang | COMICS::DEMORGAN | Richard De Morgan, UK CSC/CS | Wed Sep 30 1987 09:54 | 4 |
In John Gardner's two volumes "Moriarty" and "The Revenge of Moriarty"
(a piece of fiction about Moriarty's criminal activities told from
the side of his organization), there is a mini-dictionary of Victorian
slang, much of it very colourful.
| |||||
| 78.4 | Another one | MLNOIS::HARBIG | Fri Oct 02 1987 07:19 | 5 | |
Re .3
A very good book is Kellow Chesney's "The Victorian
Underworld" which necessarily has not only the slang
but also quite a bit of etymological explanation as
well.
| |||||
| 78.5 | Victorian slang | COMICS::DEMORGAN | Richard De Morgan, UK CSC/CS | Mon Nov 09 1987 11:13 | 132 |
The following is a glossary of Victorian slang, mainly related to criminal activities, culled from John Gardner's books "Moriarty" and "The Revenge of Moriarty". Abbess: female brothel keeper Alderman: a half-crown Area-diving: a method of theft which necessitates sneaking down area steps and stealing from the lower rooms of houses Barker, barking irons: pistols Blag: to snatch; usually a blag is a theft, often smash and grab, but applied to any theft in a public place Blow, blower: inform, informant Bludger: violent criminal, apt to use a bludgeon Broadsman: a card sharper: hence broading Buck cabbie: a dishonest cab driver Buttoner: decoy Candle to the Devil, to hold a: to be evil Caper: a criminal act, dodge or device Cash carrier: ponce, or whore's minder Chapel, the: Whitechapel Chanting: singing: more explicitly, criminal informing or exposing Chink: money Chiv: knife Cracksman: burglar, safe-breaker Crib: a house, room, shop, brothel etc, often used by the criminal fraternity to denote a place or building to be burgled Crimping shop: Barbary Coast boarding house, mainly associated with the practice of forcibly impressing, or shanghaing, sailors Crooked cross, to play the: betray, swindle, cheat Crow: a lookout Demander: one who demands money with menaces Devil's claws: the broad arrows on a convict's uniform Dipper: pickpocket Dollymop: a whore - often an amateur or part-time street girl Don: a distinguished (expert, clever) person, leader Drum: a building, house or lodging Duffer: a seller of supposed stolen goods Esclop: policeman. Backslang: the 'c' is not pronounced, and and the 'e' often omitted Family, the: criminal underworld Fawney: a ring Fawney dropping: a ruse whereby the villain pretends to find a ring (which is worthless) and sells it as a possibly valuable article at a low price Flash: vulgar, showy criminal Gen: a shilling Glim, to catch the: venereal disease Gonoph: minor thief, small-time criminal Growler: a four-wheeled cab Gulpy: easily duped Hammered for life: to be married Haymarket Hector: prostitute's bully or 'minder': applied to those who worked in the neighbourhood of the Haymarket or Leicester Square Holy water sprinkler: a cudgel spiked with nails Huntley, to take the cake, or buiscit: to be most excellent (Huntley and Palmers Biscuits) [used to have a factory in Reading - RMDeM] Irons: see barkers, barking irons Kinchen lay: stealing from children Know life: knowledgeable of criminal ways Lac(k)in: wife Ladybird: a whore Lamps: eyes Laycock, Miss: female sexual organs London particular: a thick London fog or 'pea-souper' Lump hotel: the workhouse Lurker: criminal man of all work, especially a begger, or using beggar's disguise Lushery, lushing-ken: low public house or drinking den Macer: a cheat Magsman: an inferior cheat Mandrake: a homosexual Mark: victim - usually intended victim of prostitute or confidence trickster Mobsman: a swindler, pickpocket: usually well dressed and of the Swell Mob (early 19th century high-grade thieves and pickpockets) Mollisher: a woman: often a villain's mistress Mug hunter: a street robber or footpad. Hence contemporary mugging Mumper: beggar or, more possibly by this time, scrounger Mutcher: a thief who steals from drunks Nebuchadnezzar: the male sexual organs. Hence: put Nebuchadnezzar out to grass - to have sexual intercourse Nibbed: arrested Netherskens: low lodging houses Nickey: simple (in the head) Nobblers: those who nobble, i.e. criminals used for the express purpose of inflicting grievous bodily harm Palmers: shoplifters Pigeon: victim Pig: policeman: usually detective Punishers: superior nobblers: men employed to inflict severe beatings Racket: illicit criminal occupations and tricks Rampsman, rampers: a tearaway, hoodlum Ream: superior, good: as in 'ream swag' - highly valued stolen property Roller: a thief who steals from drunks, or a prostitute who steals from her clients Rothschold, to come the: to brag and pretend to be rich St Peter's needle: severe discipline Salt box: the condemned cell Screwing: burlary, usually by using false or skeleton keys Servant's lurk: lodging or public house used by shady or dismissed servants Sharp: a (card) swindler Shirkster: a layabout Shivering jemmy: one who practises the art of begging while partially clothed Slap-bang shop: a night cellar frequented by thieves and where no credit is given Shofulman: a coiner Snakesman: slightly-built (boy) criminal used in burglary and housebreaking Snoozer: a thief who specializes in robbing hotel guests while they sleep Star-glazing: cutting out a pane of glass to gain access to a door or a window catch Starving: device used by beggars or lurkers; posing as one in need of food Sweeteners: decoys used by street traders and swindlers to push prices up, or be seen to win Toffer: a superior whore Toolers: pickpockets Trasseno: an evil person | |||||
| 78.6 | A nit | AKOV11::BOYAJIAN | The Dread Pirate Roberts | Mon Nov 09 1987 15:30 | 7 |
re:.5
It occurs to me that you're probably using the British title, but
in the US, the first of those Gardner books is THE RETURN OF MORIARTY
(which better complements THE REVENGE OF MORIARTY, I think).
--- jerry
| |||||
| 78.7 | It's gotta mean something, right? | HOMSIC::DUDEK | Call me Dr. Brevity | Mon Nov 09 1987 16:18 | 3 |
re:.5 "Palmer"
Is that where the surname comes from? :*)
| |||||
| 78.8 | Nothing so nefarious as that... | SUPER::KENAH | ROCK-> You are here <-HARD_PLACE | Mon Nov 09 1987 17:18 | 4 |
A palmer was the name for a religious pilgrim - these pilgrims often
carried branches of the palm tree.
andrew
| |||||
| 78.9 | aka Return of Moriarty | COMICS::DEMORGAN | Richard De Morgan, UK CSC/CS | Tue Nov 10 1987 03:59 | 2 |
Re .6: yes, these are the British titles, and there is a mention
of the alternative title to the first book in the front of my edition.
| |||||
| 78.10 | TKOV52::DIAMOND | Fri Feb 09 1990 06:05 | 13 | ||
Re .5
>Dollymop: a whore - often an amateur or part-time street girl
-------
Does that mean she did it for free? ;-)
(Look up "professional" in your dictionary if you need....)
>Gonoph: minor thief, small-time criminal
The correct spelling is Ganif and it is not slang. The use of words
from other languages (even if misspelled) is not usually considered
slang.
| |||||
| 78.11 | origin doesn't determine usage | TLE::RANDALL | living on another planet | Fri Feb 09 1990 14:41 | 32 |
re: .10
> >Gonoph: minor thief, small-time criminal
>
> The correct spelling is Ganif and it is not slang. The use of words
> from other languages (even if misspelled) is not usually considered
> slang.
Not necessarily true -- words of any source can be used as slang.
If the word wouldn't be acceptable in a letter you wrote to your
high-school English teacher, it's not standard English.
A good many of the terms derived from the Yiddish -- ganef and
mensch come to mind; I'll think of some more after more coffee --
are considered slang. (Spelling not guaranteed. This is how my
Jewish mother-in-law spells them.)
As for the distinction between amateur and professional -- amateur
doesn't necessarily mean you've never been paid for whatever it is
that you do. It can mean you make your living doing something
else. For instance, I'm an amateur artist -- I do pencil
portraits. I have on occasion been paid for my work, mostly by
friends who wanted a portrait of a sports or rock hero. I
wouldn't say that having taken money for my efforts makes me a
professional.
Similarly, an amateur prostitute would presumably refer to someone
like the [probably mythical] housewife who goes into town for a
couple of afternoons to turn a few tricks to get extra money for
the Christmas shopping.
--bonnie
| |||||
| 78.12 | stolen, but not misspelled | ERICG::ERICG | Eric Goldstein | Sun Feb 11 1990 15:11 | 8 |
.10> >Gonoph: minor thief, small-time criminal .10> .10> The correct spelling is Ganif and it is not slang. Since written Yiddish uses the Hebrew alphabet, neither should be considered the "correct spelling". Transliterating isn't easy, and I'd consider both to be acceptable transliterations of the same word. | |||||
| 78.13 | rathole alert | LAMHRA::WHORLOW | Are you proud of Digital's computers? | Tue Feb 13 1990 07:09 | 5 |
G'day,
Is someone's face copyrighted for the purpose of duplication and sale?
djw
| |||||
| 78.14 | Slang and Euphemism | BSS::MI_BAKER | Mike Baker | Thu Aug 04 1994 10:07 | 2 |
"Slang and Euphemism" by Richard A Spears
Second Revised Edition September 1991
| |||||