1910's Slang?

[Corto]

Hi everyone. I've been poking around the Lounge looking for threads on 1910's slang. Does anyone know of a thread discussing slang from that decade?

Or, does anyone know of a good resource (online or on paper) for 1910's slang?

Thanks for your help and Happy New Year to all of you!

 

["Skeet" McD]

Hi everyone. I've been poking around the Lounge looking for threads on 1910's slang. Does anyone know of a thread discussing slang from that decade?

Or, does anyone know of a good resource (online or on paper) for 1910's slang?

Thanks for your help and Happy New Year to all of you!

You'll run into much else--all of it interesting!--but I'd think Mencken's Dictionary of American Slang would be a great place to start...if you're interested in US stuff....

"Skeet"

 

[Shangas]

There's an excellent thread in "The Golden Age" board about Jazz Age (1920s & 1930s) slang.

1910s slang wasn't too different. Any particular words or phrases you were thinking of?

The phrase '23 Skiddoo' was already a common slang-phrase by the mid 1910s.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

Here is the link

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=13138

 

[Geesie]

You could also look for World War I slang.

 

[CliffG]

Corto give this site a try
http://www.alphadictionary.com/slang/

 

[zetwal]

Corto give this site a try
http://www.alphadictionary.com/slang/

Wonderful website. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Corto]

Thanks for all your help! I have seen Chamorro's 20's slang thread, and I did wonder how much transference there was between decades... I'm working on a WWI project, so I just wanted to make sure I wasn't using any phrases that didn't appear before 1918 at least.

I really appreciate all of your suggestions, links, and recommendations!
Happy New Year, all of you.

-corto

 

[C-dot]

Corto give this site a try
http://www.alphadictionary.com/slang/

Yes! This is the most comprehensive list of slang terms I have ever seen. Have a look through all of it, it's impressive

 

[Fletch]

"Watch my smoke"

Meaning: "watch me"; "just you wait"; "I'll show you/them". A statement of confidence that one can accomplish a task.

Used first, AFAIK, in Robert Service's novel The Trail of '98 (1910).

"Well, if I know so much you just bet I know some more. I'll go one better. You watch my smoke."

 

[Naphtali]

I have a file, "Glossary of hard-boiled slang," I can send you. I also recommend getting A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, by Eric Partridge. This contains words and phrases from medieval English through the English of 1950, its publication date.

Hope this helps.

 

[CliffG]

Here is a file I had given to me quite some time ago
A

* Alderman: A man's pot belly.
* Ameche: Telephone
* Ankle:
o (n) Woman
o (v) To walk

B

* Babe: Woman
* Baby: A person, can be said to either a man or a woman
* Bangtails: Racehorses
* Barber: Talk
* Baumes rush: Senator Caleb H. Baumes sponsored a New York law (the Baumes Law) which called for automatic life imprisonment of any criminal convicted more than three times. Some criminals would move to a state that didn't have this law in order to avoid its penalty should they be caught again, and this was known as a "Baumes rush," because of the similarity to "bum's rush."
* Be on the nut, To: To be broke
* Bean-shooter: Gun
* Beezer: Nose
* Behind the eight-ball: In a difficult position, in a tight spot
* Bent cars: Stolen cars
* Berries: Dollars
* Big house: Jail
* Big one, The: Death
* Big sleep, The: Death (coined by Chandler)
* Bim: Woman
* Bindle
o of heroin: Little folded-up piece of paper (with heroin inside)
o the bundle (or "brindle") in which a hobo carries all his worldy possessions
* Bindle punk, bindle stiff: Chronic wanderers; itinerant misfits, criminals, migratory harvest workers, and lumber jacks. Called so because they carried a "bindle." George and Lenny in Of Mice and Men are bindle stiffs.
* Bing: Jailhouse talk for solitary confinement, hence "crazy"
* Bird: Man
* Bit: Prison sentence
* Blip off: To kill
* Blow: Leave
* Blow one down: Kill someone
* Blower: Telephone
* Bo: Pal, buster, fellow, as in "Hey, bo"
* Boiler: Car
* Boob: Dumb guy
* Boozehound: Drunkard
* Bop: To kill
* Box:
o A safe
o A bar
* Box job: A safecracking
* Brace (somebody): Grab, shake up
* Bracelets: Handcuffs
* Break it up: Stop that, quit the nonsense
* Breeze: To leave, go; also breeze off: get lost
* Broad: Woman
* Broderick, The: A thorough beating
* Bruno: Tough guy, enforcer
* Bucket: Car
* Bulge, as in "The kid had the bulge there": The advantage
* Bulls: Plainclothes railroad cops; uniformed police; prison guards
* Bum's rush, To get the: To be kicked out
* Bump: Kill
* Bump gums: To talk about nothing worthwhile
* Bump off: Kill; also, bump-off: a killing
* Buncoing some (people): Defrauding people
* Bunk:
o "Take a bunk" - leave, disappear
o "That's the bunk" - that's false, untrue
o "to bunk" - to sleep
* Bunny, as in "Don't be a bunny": Don't be stupid
* Burn powder: Fire a gun
* Bus: Big car
* Butter and egg man: The money man, the man with the bankroll, a yokel who comes to town to blow a big wad in nightclubs (see reference)
* Button: Face, nose, end of jaw
* Button man: Professional killer
* Buttons: Police
* Butts: Cigarettes
* Buy a drink: To pour a drink
* Buzz, as in "I'm in the dump an hour and the house copper gives me the buzz": Looks me up, comes to my door
* Buzzer: Policeman's badge

C

* C: $100, a pair of Cs = $200
* Cabbage: Money
* Caboose: Jail (from "calaboose," which derives from calabozo, the Spanish word for "jail")
* Call copper: Inform the police
* Can:
o Jail
o Car
* Can house: Bordello
* Can-opener: Safecracker who opens cheap safes
* Canary: Woman singer
* Case dough: "Nest egg ... the theoretically untouchable reserve for emergencies" (Speaking)
* Cat: Man
* Century: $100
* Cheaters: Sunglasses
* Cheese it: Put things away, hide
* Chew: Eat
* Chicago lightning: gunfire
* Chicago overcoat: Coffin
* Chick: Woman
* Chilled off: Killed
* Chin: Conversation; chinning: talking
* Chin music: Punch on the jaw
* Chinese angle, as in "You're not trying to find a Chinese angle on it, are you?": A strange or unusual twist or aspect to something
* Chinese squeeze: Grafting by skimming profits off the top
* Chippy: Woman of easy virtue
* Chisel: To swindle or cheat
* Chiv, chive: Knife, "a stabbing or cutting weapon" (Speaking)
* Chopper squad: Men with machine guns
* Clammed: Close-mouthed (clammed up)
* Clean sneak: An escape with no clues left behind
* Clip joint: In some cases, a night-club where the prices are high and the patrons are fleeced (Partridge's), but in Pick-Up a casino where the tables are fixed
* Clipped: Shot
* Close your head: Shut up
* Clout: Shoplifter
* Clubhouse: Police station
* Coffee-and-doughnut, as in "These coffee-and-doughnut guns are ...": Could come from "coffee and cakes," which refers to something cheap or of little value.
* Con: Confidence game, swindle
* Conk: Head
* Cool: To knock out
* Cooler: Jail
* Cop
o Detective, even a private one
o To win, as in a bet
* Copped, To be: Grabbed by the cops
* Copper
o Policeman
o Time off for good behaviour
* Corn: Bourbon ("corn liquor")
* Crab: Figure out
* Crate: Car
* Creep joint: ?? Can mean a whorehouse where the girls are pickpockets, but that doesn't fit in Pick-Up
* Croak: To kill
* Croaker: Doctor
* Crushed out: Escaped (from jail)
* Cush: Money (a cushion, something to fall back on)
* Cut down: Killed (esp. shot?)

D

* Daisy: None too masculine
* Dame: Woman
* Dance: To be hanged
* Dangle: Leave, get lost
* Darb: Something remarkable or superior
* Dark meat: Black person
* Daylight, as in "let the daylight in" or "fill him with daylight": Put a hole in, by shooting or stabbing
* Deck, as in "deck of Luckies": Pack of cigarettes
* Derrick: Shoplifter
* Diapers, as in "Pin your diapers on": Clothes, get dressed
* Dib: Share (of the proceeds)
* Dick: Detective (usually qualified with "private" if not a policeman)
* Dinge: Black person
* Dingus: Thing
* Dip: Pickpocket
* Dip the bill: Have a drink
* Dish: Pretty woman
* Dive: A low-down, cheap sort of place
* Dizzy with a dame, To be: To be deeply iin love with a woman
* Do the dance: To be hanged
* Dogs: Feet
* Doll, dolly: Woman
* Dope
o Drugs, of any sort
o Information
o As a verb, as in "I had him doped as" - to have figured for
* Dope fiend: Drug addict
* Dope peddler: Drug dealer
* Dormy: Dormant, quiet, as in "Why didn't you lie dormy in the place you climbed to?"
* Dough: Money
* Drift: Go, leave
* Drill: Shoot
* Drink out of the same bottle, as in "We used to drink out of the same bottle": We were close friends
* Drop a dime: Make a phone call, sometimes meaning to the police to inform on someone
* Droppers: Hired killers
* Drum: Speakeasy
* Dry-gulch: Knock out, hit on head after ambushing
* Ducat
o Ticket
o For hobos, a union card or card asking for alms
* Duck soup: Easy, a piece of cake
* Dummerer: Somebody who pretends to be (deaf and?) dumb in order to appear a more deserving beggar
* Dump: Roadhouse, club; or, more generally, any place
* Dust
o Nothing, as in "Tinhorns are dust to me"
o Leave, depart, as in "Let's dust"
o A look, as in "Let's give it the dust"
* Dust out: Leave, depart
* Dutch
o As in "in dutch" - trouble
o As in "A girl pulled the Dutch act" - committed suicide
o As in "They don't make me happy neither. I get a bump once'n a while. Mostly a Dutch." - ?? relates to the police (Art)

E

* Eel juice: liquor
* Egg: Man
* Eggs in the coffee: Easy, a piece of cake, okay, all right
* Elbow:
o Policeman
o A collar or an arrest. Someone being arrested will "have their elbows checked."
* Electric cure: Electrocution
* Elephant ears: Police

F

* Fade: Go away, get lost
* Fakeloo artist: Con man
* Fin: $5 bill
* Finder: Finger man
* Finger, Put the finger on: Identify
* Flat
o Broke
o As in "That's flat" - that's for sure, undoubtedly
* Flattie: Flatfoot, cop
* Flimflam(m): Swindle
* Flippers: Hands
* Flivver: A Ford automobile
* Flogger: Overcoat
* Flop:
o Go to bed
o As in "The racket's flopped" - fallen through, not worked out
* Flophouse: "A cheap transient hotel where a lot of men sleep in large rooms" (Speaking)
* Fog: To shoot
* Frail: Woman
* Frau: Wife
* Fry: To be electrocuted
* From nothing, as in "I know from nothing": I don't know anything

G

* Gams: Legs (especially a woman's)
* Gashouse, as in "getting gashouse": Rough
* Gasper: Cigarette
* Gat: Gun
* Gate, as in "Give her the gate": The door, as in leave
* Gaycat: "A young punk who runs with an older tramp and there is always a connotation of homosexuality" (Speaking)
* Gee: Man
* Geetus: Money
* Getaway sticks: Legs (especially a woman's)
* Giggle juice: Liquor
* Gin mill: Bar
* Gink: Man
* Girlie: Woman
* Give a/the third: Interrogate (third degree)
* Glad rags: Fancy clothes
* Glom
o To steal
o To see, to take a look
* Glaum: Steal
* Go climb up your thumb: Go away, get lost
* Go over the edge with the rams: To get far too drunk
* Go to read and write: Rhyming slang for take flight
* Gonif: Thief (Yiddish)
* Goofy: Crazy
* Goog: Black eye
* Goon: Thug
* Goose: Man
* Gooseberry lay: Stealing clothes from a clothesline (see reference)
* Gowed-up: On dope, high
* Grab (a little) air: Put your hands up
* Graft:
o Con jobs
o Cut of the take
* Grand: $1000
* Greasers:
o Mexicans or Italians.
o A hoodlum, thief or punk.
* Grift:
o As in "What's the grift?": What are you trying to pull?
o Confidence game, swindle
* Grifter: Con man
* Grilled: Questioned
* Gum:
o As in "Don't ... gum every play I make": Gum up, interfere with
o Opium
* Gum-shoe: Detective; also gumshoeing = detective work
* Gun for: Look for, be after
* Guns:
o Pickpockets
o Hoodlums
* Gunsel:
o Gunman (Hammett is responsible for this use; see note)
o Catamite.
o "1. (p) A male oral sodomist, or passive pederast. 2. A brat. 3. (By extension) An informer; a weasel; an unscrupulous person." (Underworld)
o Note Yiddish "ganzl" = gosling

H

* Hack: Taxi
* Half, A:50 cents
* Hammer and saws: Police (rhyming slang for laws)
* Hard: Tough
* Harlem sunset: Some sort fatal injury caused by knife (Farewell, 14)
* Hash house: A cheap restaurant
* Hatchetmen: Killers, gunmen
* Have the bees: To be rich
* Have the curse on someone: Wanting to see someone killed
* Head doctors: Psychiatrists
* Heap: Car
* Heat: A gun, also heater
* Heeled: Carrying a gun
* High pillow: Person at the top, in charge
* Highbinders
o Corrupt politician or functionary
o Professional killer operating in the Chinese quarter of a city
* Hinky: Suspicious
* Hitting the pipe: Smoking opium
* Hitting on all eight: In good shape, going well (refers to eight cylinders in an engine)
* Hock shop: Pawnshop
* Hogs: Engines
* Hombre: Man, fellow
* Hooch: Liquor
* Hood: Criminal
* Hooker, as in "a stiff hooker of whiskey": A drink of strong liquor
* Hoosegow: Jail
* Hop:
o Drugs, mostly morphine or derivatives like heroin
o Bell-hop
* Hop-head: Drug addict, esp. heroin
* Horn: Telephone
* Hot: Stolen
* House dick: House/hotel detective
* House peeper: House/hotel detective
* Hype: Shortchange artist

I

* Ice : Diamonds
* In stir: In jail
* Ing-bing, as in to throw an: A fit
* Iron: A car

J

* Jack: Money
* Jake, Jakeloo: Okay
* Jam: Trouble, as in "in a jam"
* Jane: A woman
* Jasper: A man (perhaps a hick)
* Java: Coffee
* Jaw: Talk
* Jerking a nod: Nodding
* Jingle-brained: Addled
* Jobbie: Man
* Joe: Coffee, as in "a cup of joe"
* Johns: Police
* Johnson brother: Criminal
* Joint: Place, as in "my joint"
* Jorum of skee: Shot of liquor
* Joss house: Temple or house of worship for a Chinese religion
* Juice: Interest on a loanshark's loan
* Jug: Jail
* Jujus: Marijuana cigarettes
* Jump, The: A hanging
* Junkie: Drug addict

K

* Kale: Money
* Keister, keyster:
o Suitcase
o Safe, strongbox
o Buttocks
* Kick, as in "I got no kick": I have nothing to complain about
* Kick off: Die
* Kicking the gong around: Taking opium
* Kiss: To punch
* Kisser: Mouth
* Kitten: Woman
* Knock off: Kill
* Knockover: Heist, theft

L

* Lammed off: Ran away, escaped
* Large: $1,000; twenty large would be $20,000
* Law, the: The police
* Lay
o Job, as in Marlowe saying he's on "a confidential lay;" or more generally, what someone does, as in "The hotel-sneak used to be my lay"
o As in "I gave him the lay" - I told him where things stood (as in lay of the of land)
* Lead poisoning: To be shot
* Lettuce: Folding money
* Lid: Hat
* Lip: (Criminal) lawyer
* Lit, To be: To be drunk
* Loogan: Marlowe defines this as "a guy with a gun"
* Looker: Pretty woman
* Look-out: Outside man
* Lousy with: To have lots of
* Lug
o Bullet
o Ear
o Man ("You big lug!")
* Lunger: Someone with tuberculosis

M

* Made: Recognized
* Map: Face
* Marbles: Pearls
* Mark: Sucker, victim of swindle or fixed game
* Mazuma: Money
* Meat, as in "He's your meat": He's the subject of interest, there's your man
* Meat wagon: Ambulance
* Mesca: Marijuana
* Mickey Finn
o (n) A drink drugged with knock-out drops
o (v) Take a Mickey Finn: Take off, leave
* Mill: Typewriter
* Mitt: Hand
* Mob: Gang (not necessarily Mafia)
* Moll: Girlfriend
* Monicker: Name
* Mouthpiece: Lawyer
* Mud-pipe: Opium pipe
* Mug: Face
* Muggles: Marijuana
* Mugs: Men (esp. dumb ones)
* Mush: Face

N

* Nailed: Caught by the police
* Nance: An effeminate man
* Nevada gas: Cyanide
* Newshawk: Reporter
* Newsie: Newspaper vendor
* Nibble one: To have a drink
* Nicked: Stole
* Nippers: Handcuffs
* Nix on (something): No to (something)
* Noodle: Head
* Nose-candy: Heroin, in some cases
* Number: A person, can be either a man or a woman

O

* Off the track, as in "He was too far off the track. Strictly section eight": Said about a man who becomes insanely violent
* Op: Detective (esp. private), from "operative"
* Orphan paper: Bad cheques
* Out on the roof, To be: To drink a lot, to be drunk
* Oyster fruit: Pearls

P

* Pack: To carry, esp. a gun
* Palooka: Man, probably a little stupid
* Pan: Face
* Paste: Punch
* Patsy: Person who is set up; fool, chump
* Paw: Hand
* Peaching: Informing
* Pearl diver: dish-washer
* Peeper: Detective
* Pen: Penitentiary, jail
* Peterman: Safecracker who uses nitroglycerin
* Pigeon: Stool-pigeon
* Pill
o Bullet
o Cigarette
* Pinch: An arrest, capture
* Pins: Legs (especially a woman's)
* Pipe: See or notice
* Pipe that: Get that, listen to that
* Pipes: Throat
* Pistol pockets: ?? heels?
* Pitching woo: Making love (Turner)
* Plant
o (n) Someone on the scene but in hiding
o (v) Bury
* Plug: Shoot
* Plugs: People
* Poke
o Bankroll, stake
o Punch (as in "take a poke at")
* Pooped: Killed
* Pop: Kill
* Pro skirt: Prostitute
* Puffing: Mugging
* Pug: Pugilist, boxer
* Pump: Heart
* Pump metal: Shoot bullets
* Punk
o Hood, thug
o "A jailhouse sissy who is on the receiving end." (Also as a verb, as in "to get punked.")
* Puss: Face
* Put down: Drink
* Put the screws on: Question, get tough with

Q

* Queer
o (n) Counterfeit
o (n) Sexually abnormal
o (v) To ruin something or put it wrong ("queer this racket")

R

* Rags: Clothes
* Ranked: Observed, watched, given the once-over
* Rap
o Criminal charge
o Information, as in "He gave us the rap"
o Hit
* Rappers: Fakes, set-ups
* Rat: Inform
* Rate: To be good, to count for something
* Rats and mice: Dice, i.e. craps
* Rattler: Train
* Red-light: To eject from a car or train
* Redhot: Some sort of criminal
* Reefers: Marijuana cigarettes
* Rhino: Money
* Ribbed up, as in "I got a Chink ribbed up to get the dope": Set up, arranged for? "I have arranged for a Chinese person to get the information"? (Knockover, 203)
* Right: Adjective indicating quality
* Right gee, Right guy: A good fellow
* Ringers: Fakes
* Rod: Gun
* Roscoe: Gun
* Roundheels
o A fighter with a glass jaw
o A woman of easy virtue
* Rub-out: A killing
* Rube: Bumpkin, easy mark
* Rumble, the: The news
* Run-out, To take the : Leave, escape

S

* Sap
o A dumb guy
o A blackjack
* Sap poison: Getting hit with a sap
* Savvy?: Get me? Understand?
* Sawbuck: $10 bill (a double sawbuck is a $20 bill)
* Scatter, as in "And don't bother to call your house peeper and send him up to the scatter"
o Saloon or speakeasy.
o A hideout, a room or lodging
* Schnozzle: Nose
* Scram out: Leave
* Scratch: Money
* Scratcher: Forger
* Screw
o Leave, as in "Let's screw before anybody pops in"
o Prison guard
* Send over: Send to jail
* Shamus: (Private) detective
* Sharper: A swindler or sneaky person
* Shells: Bullets
* Shine
o Black person
o Moonshine, bootleg liquor
* Shine Indian: ?? (Knockover, 89)
* Shiv: Knife
* Shylock: Loanshark
* Shyster: Lawyer
* Silk, as in "all silk so far": All okay so far
* Sing: Confess, admit secrets
* Sister: Woman
* Skate around, as in "She skates around plenty": To be of easy virtue
* Skid rogue: A bum who can't be trusted
* Skipout: Leave a hotel without paying, or a person who does so
* Skirt: Woman
* Slant, Get a: Take a look
* Sleuth: Detective
* Slug
o As a noun, bullet
o As a verb, to knock unconscious
* Smell from the barrel, Have a: Have a drink
* Smoke: A black person
* Smoked: Drunk
* Snap a cap: Shout
* Snatch: Kidnap
* Sneak
o Leave, get lost, as in "If you're not a waiter, sneak"
o Type of burglary, as in as in "The hotel-sneak used to be my lay"
* Sneeze: Take
* Snitch: An informer, or, as a verb, to inform
* Snooper: Detective
* Snort (as in of gin): A drink
* Snow-bird: (Cocaine) addict
* Snowed: To be on drugs (heroin? cocaine?); also "snowed up"
* Soak: To pawn
* Sock: Punch
* Soup: Nitroglycerine
* Soup job: To crack a safe using nitroglycerine
* Spill: Talk, inform; spill it = tell me
* Spinach: Money
* Spitting: Talking
* Spondulix: Money
* Square: Honest; on the square: telling the truth
* Squirt metal: Shoot bullets
* Step off: To be hanged
* Sticks of tea: Marijuana cigarettes
* Stiff: A corpse
* Sting: Culmination of a con game
* Stool-pigeon: Informer
* Stoolie: Stool-pigeon
* Stringin': As in along, feeding someone a story
* Sucker: Someone ripe for a grifter's scam
* Sugar: Money
* Swift, To have plenty of: To be fast (on the draw)
* Swing: Hang

T

* Tail: Shadow, follow
* Take a powder: Leave
* Take it on the heel and toe: Leave
* Take on: Eat
* Take the air: Leave
* Take the bounce: To get kicked out (here, of a hotel)
* Take the fall for: Accept punishment for
* Tea: Marijuana
* That's the crop: That's all of it
* Three-spot: Three-year term in jail
* Throw a joe: Pass out ?? (Key, 86)
* Throw lead: Shoot bullets
* Ticket: P.I. license
* Tiger milk: Some sort of liquor
* Tighten the screws: Put pressure on somebody
* Tin: Badge
* Tip a few: To have a few drinks
* Tip your mitt: Show your hand, reveal something
* Tomato: Pretty woman
* Tooting the wrong ringer: Asking the wrong person
* Torcher: Torch singer
* Torpedoes: Gunmen
* Trap: Mouth
* Trigger man: Man whose job is to use a gun
* Trip for biscuits, as in "You get there fast and you get there alone - or you got a trip for biscuits": Make the trip for no purpose, achieve no results
* Trouble boys: Gangsters
* Turn up: To turn in (to the police)
* Twist: Woman
* Two bits: $25, or 25 cents.

U

* Under glass: In jail
* Up-and-down, as in "to give something the up-and-down": A look
* Uppers, as in "I've been shatting on my uppers for a couple of months now" or "I'm down on my uppers": To be broke

V

* Vag, as in vag charge, vag law: Vagrancy
* Vig, Vigorish
o Excessive interest on a loanshark's loan
o Advantage in odds created by a bookie or gambler to increase profit

W

* Weak sister: A push-over
* Wear iron: Carry a gun
* Wheats, as in "a stack of wheats": Pancakes
* White
o Good, okay, as in "white dick"
o Gin ("a gallon of white")
* Wikiup: Home
* Wire, as in "What's the wire on them?": News, "What information do you have about them?"
* Wise, To be To be knowledgeable of; put us wise: tell us
* Wise head: A smart person
* Wooden kimono: A coffin
* Worker, as in "She sizes up as a worker": A woman who takes a guy for his money
* Wrong gee: Not a good fellow
* Wrong number: Not a good fellow

Y

* Yap: Mouth
* Yard: $100
* Yegg: Safecracker who can only open cheap and easy safes

Z

* Zotzed: Killed