#historical
72 words tagged “historical”
To steal — the cant verb that gave us 'shoplifting' centuries on.
Mature content — open to view.
The night, in the cant — when the angler hooked windows and the prig went to work.
A sneak-thief who slipped into houses to steal cloaks and coats off the pegs.
A British police officer.
An accomplice who screens the thief — the body that blocks the view while the foin works.
A thief who robs apartments or dwellings.
A five-dollar bill.
A thief who preys on drunks to rob them.
The woman running the brothel.
A sergeant — Welsh loanword used in English military and historical writing.
To murder someone.
Cant for a church — root of 'autem mort' (a wedded woman) and 'autem diver' (church-thief).
Polari for the ear, to listen, or a sharp 'shush!'
A hip or back pocket; also, to steal from one.
A thief who robs around docks and waterfronts.
Cant for a woman — a 'walking mort' tramped the roads; an 'autem mort' was a wedded one.
Cant for 'good' — the opposite of 'queer'; bene bouse was good drink, a bene cove a sound man.
A thief who robs people in alleys.
To kill someone.
The day, in the cant — paired against darkmans on the rogue's upside-down clock.
A jewelry thief.
Historically derogatory slang for a heavily masculine, 'tough' lesbian.
An itinerant safecracker or burglar, esp. one who travels as a tramp.
An older term for refined male-male romance manga for women.
A magistrate or judge.
Cant for a man or fellow — your 'cove' could be a mate, a master, or the mark.
A pound (from the gold coin).
To blast a safe open with explosives.
A thief who robs or picks the pockets of women.
A small old coin; a trifling sum.
A gun, esp. a favored pistol; also a fist.
See swag: loot or plunder from a crime.
A police van for hauling arrestees.
An old name for the canting tongue itself — the secret 'language' of thieves and vagabonds.
One who complains to or informs the authorities.
A thief who robs country houses.
A convict given privileges, sometimes for informing.
Mature content — open to view.
Historical term for a very masculine, tough lesbian.