The origins of Cant/Argot, also known as Thieves Slang, can be traced back centuries. Formed as a chimera language, a polyglot many headed beast, it takes its influences from Persia, India and even Anglo Saxon England.
Famed prison chaplain J.W. Horsley, writer of ‘Jottings from Jail’, traces the origins of many Cant meanings from Romany or gypsy words with Sanskrit derivations; words such as bosh, mull, bamboozle, daddy and pal.
Moreover the old, pre-Norman invasion English, survives in the vernacular of the thief. Dr Latham, famed philologist, even goes so far as to say “The thieves of London are the conservators of Anglo Saxonisms”.
French even rears its head with the words chat, from the french chateau to mean house, bull, referring to prison food, derived from the french word bouilli (food) and the word Steel, from Bastille, in reference to Coldbath Fields Prison.
Reckon you know enough Cant to get by?
I thought not kid. Have a pipe at these stiffs below to avoid being smugged by reelers or worse, looking like a balmy mug.
Argot/Cant – Thieves Slang – He’s clearly not one of us, he doesn’t know the cant
Balmy – Mad – We never spoke to old Jack, he was balmy
Best – To leave something or someone – I would’ve stayed but my friend was caught by the police, so I best him
Bested – Cheated – I bested him of 5 dozen new sheets
Bite my ear – Borrow – My wife wanted to bite my ear for £10
Blow – Shillings – He promised me thirty blow to look the other way
Break – A collection of money – When Tommy got ill, we did a beak for him
Brief – Train Ticket – I stole a brief from an unsuspecting tourist
Brigh – Pocket – I have my wallet in my brigh
Brit – Brittania Theatre (a hangour for crooks) – After a hard days stealing, we went down to the Brit to see a show
Broadsmen – Cheaters at games of cards – Broadsmen broke into my neighbour’s place last night
Busters – Burglars – A group of busters emptied their living room over night
Canon – Drunk – I was so canon on Friday night I couldn’t remember where I left my hat
Caser – Five shillings – I received a caser for a bag full of stolen crockery
Chat – A house – We broke into the chat with relative ease
Chive – Knife – The policeman stopped me but thankfully didn’t find my chive
Clobber – Clothing – Before heading out for a night’s work I put on my clobber
Conk – Nose – He punched me right in on the conk
Copper – Policeman – The coppers gave me a rough ride last Tuesday
Crook – Dishonestly – I bought this boat on the crook
Cross-kidded – Questioned – The police cross-kidded me about a theft from last year
Cut up – Share – After we did that big job over in Staines, we cut up the proceeds fairly
Daisy-roots – Boots – I put on my favourite daisy-roots before I go thieving
Dansers – Steps – I went down the dancers to pick up a dropped umbrella
Dead’un – Abandoned house – When the police were after me, I spent a few nights in a dead’un
Deaner – A shilling – He promised me a deaner to look the other way
Dossed – Slept – I dossed in a haystack last night
Double – Bend/turning of a road – I saw the homeowner go round the double before I broke into their house
Double finns – £10 notes – He gave me double fins to keep my mouth shut
Drag – Three months in prison – I got a drag for being caught with stolen goods
Ducat – Train Ticket – I stole a ducat from an unsuspecting tourist
Dukes – Hands – Put your dukes up, we’re going to fight
Fence – Buyer of stolen goods – We sold a load of stolen goods to a fence
Finns – £5 notes – I got a handful of finns for that stolen lamp
Foont – Sovereign – That’s the last time I lend you a foont
Front – To lend money – When I couldn’t afford breakfast, Kevin fronted me
Fullied – Fully Committed for trial – Well, they caught me in the act of stealing so I was fullied
Gaff – Penny Music Room – After going to the theatre we headed to a gaff
Giving a roasting – Watching – I was giving a roasting to that house the other night to see if there was anything worth stealing
Giving hot beef – Shouting “Stop Thief” – The homeowner came back to see me helping myself to his cutlery, he started giving the hot beef
Grease his duke – Give money (typically a bribe) – I had to grease his dukes to turn the other way
Half a century – £50 notes – Not a bad night’s work, half a century for half an hour’s stealing
Half-James – Half a sovereign – Can I borrow a half-James?
Hot – Dangerous – We had to get out of there quick, it was getting too hot
I fell – I was caught/arrested – I almost made it to the end of the street but I fell when they caught up
James – Crowbar – The best way to open a door is gentle with a James
Jolly – A pretence – I asked him the time for a jolly whilst Little Pete picked his pockets
Kidding – Deceiving – I had to kid my way into the VIP area
Kids – Children – I steal so I can feed my kids
Kipsey – Basket – In my kipsey was a great many stolen socks
Lagged – Sent to Prison – They caught me in the act and I was lagged for 5 years
Landed – Was alright – After 6 months in prison I landed in a new house
Lead – A collection of money – We got a good lead out of his pockets without him knowing
Madam – Handkerchief – I stole his madam from right under his nose
Magsmen – Confidence tricksters – Did you hear about those magsmen who robbed that manor?
Meet – Trysting place – The boys and I planned our getaway at the meet
Men at the duff – Selling fake jewellery – That man at the duff sold me a fake Rolex
Men at the mace – Fake loansmen – The men at the mace robbed me of all my savings
Mob – A gang – The mob and I went to the park
Monarch – Name – “What’s your real monarch, sir?” asked the policeman
Mug – Inexperienced – I was a mug when it came to thieving
Nark – Policeman’s spy/rat – Don’t say anything around Spiky Dave, he’s a nark
Neddie – Life jacket (made of cork/wood) also used as armour – Thank god I had my Neddie on when he stabbed me
Nut – Head – He slapped my nut for being cheeky
Old woman – Wife – I can’t come out tonight, I’m cooking dinner for my old woman
Pals – Companions – Two pals and I went to London
Parlour–Jumping – Robbing rooms – I went parlour jumping down the terrace, getting in through open windows
Peter – Parcel/Cash box – The Peter was sitting on the table but I was being watched
Peter-claimers – Box stealers – He wasn’t a postman, he was a Peter-claimer
Pieces – Money – I’ve got no pieces in my bank account
Pipe – To see – I had a pipe at what was going on
Poge – A purse – Today has been brilliant, I found a poge in the road full of money
Pratted – Went – I pratted to the pub to get a pint
Pudding – Liver with sedatives used to silence dogs – I gave the dog a pudding to sneak past him
Quid – Sovereign – How many quids for that horse?
Ramp – Hallmark (for gold and silver) – The silver ewer had an authentic ramp so I knew it was real
Rapped – Said – The policeman rapped at me ‘What’s that in your pocket?’
Rattler – Train Station – I went to the rattler to evade the police
Red tackle – A gold necklace – My wife wants a new red tackle
Red toy – A gold watch – My other wife wants a red toy
Reelers – The Police – The reelers almost caught me stealing towels
Run the rule over – Search – That policeman saw me leaving a house and ran the search on me: he didn’t find anything
Schooling – A term in a Reformatory – I just came home from a schooling but I’m back to my bad ways
Screwed – Broke in – We screwed that house up the lane
Screwsmen – Burglars – You better lock the door, I heard there’s a gang of screwsmen working in this area
Scuff – Crowd – A scuff gathered around me when I was caught housebreaking
Set about – Beat up – The policeman set about me till I was covered in bruises
Sheney – Jew – I stole a watch off of a sheney
Sixer – 6 months – I was sent to prison for a sixer
Skittler-sharps – A thief – A group of skittler-sharps stole my dog
Skyrocket – Pocket – I slipped my hand in his skyrocket and stole a handful of notes
Slavey – A servant – A slavey saw me creeping into the house at the dead of night
Smug – Steal – I’m going out on the smug, see you tonight
Smugged – Caught/arrested – I was smugged for stealing a watch
Snide-Pitchers – Counterfeiters – Those snide-pitchers are money magicians
Snowy – Linen – I stole a handful of snowy from a clothes line
Spark prop – Diamond pin – Did you see the size of that spark prop?
Sparring bloke – A boxer – We fixed a fight between two sparring blokes and made loads of money
Split out – Separate – The police were on to us so I thought we better split out
Sprat – 6 pennies – I got paid a sprat for a dishonest day’s work
Squeeze – Silk – That squeeze dress looks beautiful on you
Stand in – Invest in – Look, if you want to help us burgle that house you’ve got to stand in for some new tools
Steel – Rhyming slang Bastille – Coldbath Fields Prison) – I got 7 months in the Steel for stealing
Stick – Crowbar – Did you bring the stick, the door looks tough
Stick up – Disappointment – When I realised it was too late to burgle, it was such a stick up
Stiffs – Notes – I forged some stiffs from my parents to get out of PE
Stock-pieces – Stock Money (stocks) – I couldn’t afford any stock pieces so I stole them
Stretch – A year – I’ve done 7 stretches in prison
Tench – House of Detention – I was in the Tench before they finally sent me to prison
The Lane – Petticoat Lane (a place in London were second-hand and stolen goods were sold) – We sold a load of stolen goods down the Lane
To cop – Steal – We went to an orchard to cop some apples
To guy – To run away – I planned with a friend of mine to guy from the police
Toke – Food – I ate some really nice toke this morning
Took a liberty – Went too far – He took a liberty with that robbery
Touched for – Succeeded in getting – I touched for 30 cups and saucers last Sunday
Toygetters – Watch stealers – I sold some stolen good to the toygetters
Tricky – Clever – He was a tricky fellow, Einstein
Turned over – Searched – We turned over the cabinets but all we found was an eggcup
Twirls – Skeleton keys – Don’t worry about the crowbar, we’ve got twirlers
Tykes – Dogs – I’ve put the tykes to sleep using valerian
Use at – To frequent – We used to use at the pub but now we’re high and dry
Usher – Yes – He asked me if my name was Bob and said usher
Wedge – Silver plate – I stole some beautiful wedge this morning
Wedge-hunting – Stealing plates – We had an unsuccessful day wedge-hunting, all we got was a Sippy cup
Welshers – Turf stealers – That used to be a golf course before the welshers arrived
Whack – Share – “You’ll get your whack, if you do as I say” said the leader of our gang
Widest – Cleverest – He was the widest man I ever knew
Wrung myself – Changed my clothes – When I knew the police were following me, I went home and wrung myself