| 18th Century Thieves Cant |
|---|
| Verbs |
| Verbs : Run |
|---|
| BING | to go, etc. | 1737 |
| BING | To go. Cant. Bing avast; get you gone. Binged avast in a darkmans; stole away in the night. Bing we to Rumeville: shall we go to London? | 1811 |
| BING-AWAST | Get you hence: Begone; haste away; He Bingd awast in a Darkmans, i.e. He Stole away in the Night-time. Bing we to Rum vile? i.e. Go we to London. | 1737 |
| BOLT | to run away from or leave any place suddenly, is called bolting, or making a bolt: a thief observing an alarm while attempting a robbery, will exclaim to his accomplice, Bolt, there's a down. A sudden escape of one or more prisoners from a place of confinement is termed a bolt. | 1819 |
| BOLT-IN-TUN | a term founded on the cant word bolt, and merely a fanciful variation, very common among flash persons, there being in London a famous inn so called; it is customary when a man has run away from his lodgings, broke out of a jail, or made any other sudden movement, to say, The Bolt-in-tun is concerned; or, He's gone to the Bolt-in-tun; instead of simply saying, He has bolted, &c. See Bolt. | 1819 |
| BRUSH | to flee, or run away. The Cully is brushed or rubbed; The Fellow is marched off or broke. Bought a Brush, run away. | 1737 |
| DOUBLE | to double a person, or tip him the Dublin packet, signifies either to run away from him openly, and elude his attempts to overtake you, or to give him the slip in the streets, or elsewhere, unperceived, commonly done to escape from an officer who has you in custody, or to turn up a flat of any kind, whom you have a wish to get rid of. | 1819 |
| DUBLIN-PACKET | See Double. | 1819 |
| HOOF it | or beat it on the Hoof; to walk on Foot. | 1737 |
| KICKD | gone, fled, departed; as, The Rum Cull kickd away, i.e. The Rogue made his Escape. | 1737 |
| LETS BUY A BRUSH | or Lets lope; Let us scour off, and make what Shift we can to secure our selves from being apprehended. | 1737 |
| LOAPD | run away; He loapd up the Dancers; He whipt up the Stairs. | 1737 |
| MIZZLE | to quit or go away from any place or company ; to elope, or run away. | 1819 |
| Mr NASH | See Nash. | 1819 |
| NASH | to go away from, or quit, any place or company ; speaking of a person who is gone, they say, he is nash'd, or Mr. Nash is concerned. | 1819 |
| OUT OF THE WAY | a thief who knows that he is sought after by the traps on some information, and consequently goes out of town, or otherwise conceals himself, is said by his palls to be out of the way for so and so, naming the particular offence he stands charged with. See Wanted. | 1819 |
| PIKE | to run away, flee, quit or leave the Place; also to die, Pike on the Been, run away as fast as you can. Pikd off, run away, fled, broke; also dead. To pass the Pikes, to be out of Danger. Theres a Cull knos us; if we dont pike, hell bone us, that Fellow sees is if we dont scour off, hell apprehend us. Then well pike, tis all Bowman; well be gone, all is well, the Coast is clear. | 1737 |
| RATTLE | to move off, or be gone. Well take Rattle, We must not tarry, but whip away. | 1737 |
| RUB | to run away. A Rub, an Impediment, Obstacle, Hinderance, Stop, Hardship, or Difficulty. Rub on, to live indifferently. Rub through the World, to live tolerably well in it. | 1737 |
| SCOUR | To scour or score off; to run away: perhaps from SCORE; i.e. full speed, or as fast as legs would carry one. Also to wear: chiefly applied to irons, fetters, or handcuffs, because wearing scours them. He will scour the darbies; he will be in fetters. To scour the cramp ring; to wear bolts or fetters, from which, as well as from coffin hinges, rings supposed to prevent the cramp are made. | 1811 |
| SCOWRE | to run away or scamper. | 1737 |
| SCUTTLE | To scuttle off; to run away. To scuttle a ship; to make a hole in her bottom in order to sink her. | 1811 |
| SHABD-Off | sneakd, or fled away. | 1737 |
| STAND-STILL | He was run to a stand-still; i.e. till he could no longer move. | 1811 |
| TANTWIVY | Away they went tantwivy; away they went full speed. Tantwivy was the sound of the hunting horn in full cry, or that of a post horn. | 1811 |
| TO BRUSH | To run away. Let us buy a brush and lope; let us go away or off. To have a brush with a woman; to lie with her. To have a brush with a man; to fight with him. The cove cracked the peter and bought a brush; the fellow broke open the trunk, and then ran away. | 1811 |
| TO RUB | To run away. Dont rub us to the whit; dont send us to Newgate. CANT.--To rub up; to refresh: to rub up ones memory. A rub: an impediment. A rubber; the best two out of three. To win a rubber: to win two games out of three. | 1811 |
| TO SHERRY | To run away: sherry off. | 1811 |
| TO TRACK | To go. Track up the dancers; go up stairs. CANT. | 1811 |
| TO WHIP OFF | To run away, to drink off greedily, to snatch. He whipped away from home, went to the alehouse, where he whipped off a full tankard, and coming back whipped off a fellows hat from his head. | 1811 |
| TRACK | to go. Track up the Dancers; Whip up the Stairs. | 1737 |
| Verbs : Verbs |
|---|
| BOUNCE | to bully, threaten, talk loud, or affect great consequence; to bounce a person out of any thing, is to use threatening or high words, in order to intimidate him, and attain the object you are intent upon; or to obtain goods of a tradesman, by assuming the appearance of great respectability and importance, so as to remove any suspicion he might at first entertain. A thief, detected in the commission of a robbery, has been known by this sort of finesse, aided by a genteel appearance and polite manners, to persuade his accusers of his innocence, and not only to get off with a good grace, but induce them to apologize for their supposed mistake, and the affront put upon him. This masterstroke of effrontery is called giving it to 'em upon the bounce. | 1819 |
| BUFF | To buff to a person or thing, is to swear to the identity of them; swearing very positively to any circumstance, is called buffing it home. | 1819 |
| BUG or BUG OVER | To give, deliver, or hand over; as, He bug'd me a quid, he gave me a guinea; bug over the rag, hand over the money. | 1819 |
| CRAB | to prevent the perfection or execution of any intended matter or business, by saying any thing offensive or unpleasant, is called crabbing it, or throwing a crab ; to crab a person, is to use such offensive language or behaviour as will highly displease, or put him in an ill humour. | 1819 |
| DING | to throw, or throw away ; particularly any article you have stolen, either because it is worthless, or that there is danger of immediate apprehension. To ding a person, is to drop his acquaintance totally; also to quit his company, or leave him for the time present; to ding to your pall, is to convey to him, privately, the property you have just stolen ; and he who receives it is said to take ding, or to knap the ding. | 1819 |
| FAM | to feel or handle. | 1819 |
| FLASH | to shew or expose any thing ; as I flash'd him a bean, I shewed him a guinea. Don't flash your sticks, don't expose your pistols, &c. | 1819 |
| GNARL | to gnarl upon a person, is the same as splitting or nosing upon him ; a man guilty of this treachery is called a gnarling scoundrel, &c. | 1819 |
| HANG IT ON | purposely to delay or protract the performance of any task or service you have undertaken, by dallying, and making as slow a progress as possible, either from natural indolence, or to answer some private end of your own. To hang it on with a woman, is to form a temporary connexion with her; to cohabit or keep company with her without marriage. | 1819 |
| HANKER | To hanker after any thing; to have a longing after or for it. | 1811 |
| NAP the BIB | to cry; as, the mollisher nap'd her bib, the woman fell a crying. | 1819 |
| NOB IT | to act with such prudence and knowledge of the world, as to prosper and become independent without any labour or bodily exertion; this is termed nobbing it, or fighting nob work. To effect any purpose, or obtain any thing, by means of good judgment and sagacity, is called nobbing it for such a thing. | 1819 |
| NOSE | to nose, is to pry into any person's proceedings in an impertinent manner. To nose upon any one, is to tell of any thing he has said or done with a view to injure him, or to benefit yourself. | 1819 |
| NUT | to please a person by any little act of assiduity, by a present, or by flattering words, is called nutting him; as the present, &c., by which you have gratified them, is termed a nut. | 1819 |
| PICK-UP | to accost, or enter into conversation with any person, for the purpose of executing some design upon his personal property ; thus, among gamblers, it is called picking up a fiat, or a mouth: sharpers, who are daily on the look-out for some unwary countryman or stranger, use the same phrase ; and among drop-coves, and others who act in concert, this task is allotted to one of the gang, duly qualified, who is thence termed the picker-up; and he having performed his part, his associates proceed systematically in cleaning out the flat. To pick vp a cull, is a term used by biowens in their vocation of street-walking. To pick a person up, in a general sense, is to impose upon, or take advantage of him, in a contract or bargain. | 1819 |
| QUEER IT | to spoil it, which see. | 1819 |
| ROUGH | as, To lie Rough, to lie in ones Cloaths all Night. | 1737 |
| ROUGH | To lie rough; to lie all night in ones clothes: called also roughing it. Likewise to sleep on the bare deck of a ship, when the person is commonly advised to chuse the softest plank. | 1811 |
| SCOURE | to wear. To Scoure the Cramp-rings; To wear Bolts. Also to run away. See Scowre. | 1737 |
| SMOKE | to suspect or smell a Design. It is smokd It is made Publick, all have Notice | 1737 |
| SNIC | to cut. | 1737 |
| SNILCH | to eye or see any Body. The Cull snilches; the Man eyes or sees you. | 1737 |
| SNITE | to wipe, or flap. Snite his Snitch; wipe his Nose, or give him a good Flap on the Face. | 1737 |
| SQUEEK | to discover, or impeach; also to cry out. They squeek Beef upon us; They cry out Highway-men or Thieves after us. The Cull squeeks; The Rogue peaches. | 1737 |
| STAG | to stag any object or person, is to look at, observe, or take notice of them. | 1819 |
| STALL OFF | a term variously applied; generally it means a pretence, excuse, or prevarication - as a person charged with any fault, entering into some plausible story, to excuse himself, his hearers or accusers would say, O yes, that's a good stall off, or, Aye, aye, stall it off that way if you can. To extricate a person from any dilemma, or save him from disgrace, is called stalling him off; as an accomplice of your's being detected in a robbery, &c., and about to be given up to justice, you will step up as a stranger, interfere in his behalf, and either by vouching for his innocence, recommending lenity, or some other artifice, persuade his accusers to forego their intention, and let the prisoner escape ; you will then boast of having stalled him off in prime twig. To avoid or escape any impending evil or punishment by means of artifice, submission, bribe, or otherwise, is also called stalling it off. A man walking the streets, and passing a particular shop, or encountering a certain person, which or whom he has reasons for wishing to avoid, will say to any friend who may be with him, I wish you'd stall me of from that crib, (or from that cove, as the case may be) meaning, walk in such a way as to cover or obscure me from notice, until we are past the shop or person in question. | 1819 |
| STALLING | making or ordaining. | 1737 |
| STALLING | Making or ordaining. Stalling to the rogue; an ancient ceremony of instituting a candidate into the society of rogues, somewhat similar to the creation of a herald at arms. It is thus described by Harman: the upright man taking a gage of bowse, i.e. a pot of strong drink, pours it on the head of the rogue to be admitted; saying, --I, A.B. do stall thee B.C. to the rogue; and from henceforth it shall be lawful for thee to cant for thy living in all places. | 1811 |
| STAND BUFF | is a Phrase used of an obstinate hardened Rogue, who in a Robbery will not be daunted at Resistance or Opposition, or leave his Com-rogues in the Lurch, or a hardened Rogue who will confess nothing. | 1737 |
| SWAGGER | to vapour or bounce. | 1737 |
| SWAGGER | To bully, brag, or boast, also to strut. | 1811 |
| TAKE THE CULLS IN | Seize the Men in order to rob them. | 1737 |
| TIP | to give or lend: Tip your Lour or Cole or Ill mill ye; Give me your Money, or Ill kill ye. Tip the COle to Adam Tiler; Give your Pick-pocket Money presently to your running Comrade. Tip the Mish; Give me the Shirt. Tip me a Hog; Lend me a Shilling. Tip it all off; Drink it all off at a Draught. Dont spoil his Tip; Dont baulk his Draught. A Tub of good Tip; (for Tipple) a Cask of strong Drink. To tip off, also signifies to die. | 1737 |
| TIP | to give, pay, or bribe. To take the tip, is to receive a bribe in any shape ; and they say of a person who is known to be corruptible, that he will stand the tip. The tip is a term frequently used to signify the money concerned in any dealings or contract existing between parties ; synonymous with the dues. See Dues. | 1819 |
| TODDLE | To walk away. The cove was touting, but stagging the traps he toddled; be was looking out, and feeing the officers he walked away. | 1811 |
| TODDLE | to walk slowly, either from infirmity or choice. Come, let us toddk, is a familiar phrase, signifying, let us be going. | 1819 |
| TOUR | To TOUT; to look out sharp, to be upon ones Guard. Who touts? Who looks out sharp? Tout the Culls; Eye those Folks which way they take. Do you tout and bulk, and Ill file; If youll eye and jostlehim, I will pick his Pockets. | 1737 |
| TOUT | to tout a person, is to watch his motions ; to keep tout, is to look out, or watch, while your pall is effecting any private purpose. A strong tout, is a strict observation, or eye, upon any proceedings, or person. | 1819 |
| TRANSMOGRIFY | or rather Transmigrafy, to alter or new vamp. | 1737 |
| TRANSNEAR | to come up with any Body. | 1737 |
| TROLL About | to saunter, loiter, or wander about. | 1737 |
| TRY IT ON | to make any attempt, or. essay, where success is doubtful. So to try it on with a woman, signifies to attempt her chastity. | 1819 |
| TURN UP | to desist from, or relinquish, any particular habit or mode of life, or the further pursuit of any object you had in view, is called turning it up. To turn up a mistress, or a male acquaintance, is to drop all intercourse, or correspondence, with them. To turn up a particular house, or shop, you have been accustomed to use, or deal at, signifies to withdraw your patronage, or custom, and visit it no more. To quit a person suddenly in the street, whether secretly or openly, is called turning him up. To turn a man up sweet, is to get rid of him effectually, but yet to leave him in perfect good humour, and free from any suspicion or discontent ; this piece of finesse often affords a field for the exercise of consummate address, as in the case of turning up a fiat, after having stript him of all his money at play, or a shopkeeper, whom you have just robbed before his face of something valuable, upon the pinch, or the hoist. | 1819 |
| TURN UP A TRUMP | to be fortunate in getting a good stake, or by any other means improving your finances. | 1819 |
| TWIG | to disingage, to sunder, to snap, to break off; as, To twig the Darbies; To knock off the Irons. | 1737 |
| TWIG | any thing accomplished cleverly, or as it should be, is said to be done in twig, in good twg, or in prime twig. A person well dress'd is said to be in twig. See Drop, Gammon The Twelve, and Out Of Twig. | 1819 |
| UNTWISTED | undone, ruind. | 1737 |
| UNTWISTED | Undone, ruined, done up. | 1811 |
| WIT | to know or understand. | 1737 |
| YORK | To stare or look at any person in an impertinent manner, is termed yorking; to york any thing, in a common sense, is to view, look at, or examine it. | 1819 |
