Holden Caulfield: Sixteen years old. Six feet two with a shock of gray hair. Very immature but can act older than his age. (But no one notices.) Our narrator. Loves children. Hates phonys.
Phoebe Caulfield: Holden's ten-year-old sister. Very smart and perceptive girl. Roller-skate skinny with red hair. She likes to write girl books that she never finishes. Affectionate and emotional.
Walt Stradlater: Holden's roomate at Pency. Handsome and shallow. Asks Holden to write his composition for him and goes on a date with Jane Gallagher. Holden and Stradlater have a fist-fight. He was a friendly guy but "it was partly a phony kind of friendly.
Allie Caulfield: Holden's younger brother who died three years earlier of leukemia. Bright, sensitive, and exceptional. Wrote poetry on his baseball mitt. "You'd have liked him."
Robert Ackley:Ackley kid. Roomed next to Holden at Pency. No one liked him. Nosey and dirty. Holden took him along into town to be nice. Bad skin and bad teeth that "always looked mossy and awful."
SunnyYoung:prostitute sent to Holden's room. Shallow, uneducated, and all-business. Holden and Sunny only talk. This is five. It costs ten. Holden assumes the alias of Jim Steele with Sunny. She calls him "crum-bum."
Mr. Antolini:Former English teacher at Elkton Hills. He was the one who finally picked up the body of James Castle. Holden retreats to his house and recieves a long lecture. Plans to stay there until Tuesday, but while Holden is sleeping Mr. Antolini begins to pet him. Flitty. Likes to drink.
Maurice Edmont: elevator operator/pimp. Sends "a girl" up to Holden's room for "a good time". After agreeing upon a price, Maurice wants more. Holden has a fist-fight with him but he doesn't stand a chance.
Mr. Spencer: Holden's History teacher at Pency. Holden visits him before leaving school. He flunks Holden and reads his essay on "the Egyptians" aloud as an explanation. He smells like Vicks Nose Drops and is a bad throw. "Life is a game, boy."
D.B. Caulfield: Holden's older brother. Served in the army. A writer. Author of "the Secret Goldfish". Now a Hollywood prostitute.
Mr. & Mrs. Caulfield: Holden's parents. Mr. Caulfield is a businessman. Mrs. Caulfield doesn't sleep well. She's still traumatized over Allie. "They're grand people."
Works Cited:
http://www.geocities.com/deadcaulfields/Characters.html
Friday, August 29, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Five Stages of grieving and loss.
Denial: Usually our first reaction to the loss of something we're attached to, is denial. Upon hearing my 51-year-old brother was dying, I entered denial that was so strong I didn't let him say "die"...I brought him to the best doctors...I called talk radio health shows...all to find some answer other than the one I kept hearing...no one lives through stage 4b pancreatic cancer once the liver is involved. Some people deny the death of a loved one so much that they won't let anyone refer to them as 'gone'. They will refer to imaginary conversations as if they had happened. What we all need to know is, denial is normal. Mom isn't coming unhinged...she's just trying to wrap her mind around losing the love of her life. If she's still consulting him a couple years from now, maybe there's something to be concerned about.
Anger: This stage of grief is probably the cause of the most pain from grief. Anger can cause deep and sometimes permanent wounds that are totally unnecessary. Let it go! I've had my days of shaking my fist at God, saying, "Why my brother?...Why my mother?...Why my career?" Then I had to let it go, or it would be my life that was lost...consumed in anger over things I didn't understand or control. You will experience anger in your grief. You may perceive that someone "harmed" you in some way. This stage of grief is probably a major cause of law suits, but, even if you win...all you get is money...you lose the years you allowed the anger to consume you. I used to keep mental lists of the people who had hurt me in some way, until I realized they were consuming my life...I was increasing the harm they caused me by "nursing my grudge". Let it go. Forgive them. It will give you the ability to heal from your loss.
Bargaining: This is as strange a grief behavior as Denial. It's where we try to make deals to gain back what we lost. As a minister, several years ago, I got fired from a church staff over a misunderstanding. Instead of accepting the decision, I decided to start a non-profit organization to perform the same services I had been performing and then contract with the church. I was unable to bargain my way back into that church, and once I accepted what had happened, I was able to move into areas of greater opportunity. The next few lines may offend some, but it's the best example of the bargaining in grief I can think of. In some religions, they teach of a place called Purgatory, where "sinful" relatives supposedly go after death. They are said to be punished there until they are purged (purge-atory) of their sins by the faithful donations of time and money by their living loved ones. This is a great way for grieving people to bargain with God over the fate of their loved ones. I imagine it's a great fundraiser, too. For those of you who are wondering, Purgatory is not a Biblical concept. The Bible says all it takes is belief to be with God forever, that no one can, and no one has to, earn it by good works, church attendance, or by giving. Everyone bargains over a loss in some way, trying to somehow regain what they've lost. Some people try too fast after the loss of a spouse to "replace" them. This is the bargaining part of grief and is normal but it has potentially harmful consequences. It prevents you from healing from your grief and it opens you up to picking someone who is not your lost loved one. Once reality sets in, both people are usually deeply hurt. Try to finish processing your grief (usually 2-3 years) before entering a serious relationship. If you find yourself or a loved one going to unusual extremes to recover a loss...understand it's the bargaining part of grief, try to protect them and cut them some slack.
Depression: This is the most dangerous stage of grief. Everyone goes through depression before they can heal from a major loss. My childhood Barber and his 3 friends made up a golf foursome for most of their adult life. All of them died from natural causes within one year of each other. The Barber's wife died 6 months after he did. It's possible to will yourself to death if you don't get over the depression stage of grief. With some people, depression is so deep, they don't wait for natural causes. If you feel you or a loved one is too deeply depressed over a loss, look at Depression Treating for ideas. The closer the attachment, the deeper and longer the depression will be. I remember being depressed for about 2 months after the loss of a job. I still ate and everything, but I was definitely uninterested in most any aspect of life...just wanted to give up. Within 18 months of that loss, we founded http://www.way2hope.org, and nothing has been the same since. There is always light at the end of the tunnel, but for someone suffering a great loss, the tunnel is long and dark. Unless there is a suicide threat or they are about to lose their job, house, etc. it's better to let the grieving person work through their depression. When we're going through this part of the grief process, all of life seems pointless...but then we start to see some joyful things. We almost feel guilty when we laugh or enjoy something because the one we lost isn't there. Then we start to realize that they won't be there, in a physical sense, for the rest of our lives. We choose to be happy anyway...not happy because they're gone, but happy despite their absence, and happy because that's what they would have wanted. My sister didn't want people to be moping around, so, when I spoke at her memorial, I wore a funny hat and bright lemon tennis shoes. It didn't work on any of us, but it reminded us she wanted us to be happy, anyway. That transition is what brings us to the final stage.
Acceptance: This isn't all bells and fireworks. It's a decision to be at peace with the way things are. To know that no amount of denial, bargaining, anger or depression is going to recover our loss. We begin to accept that loss is part of life. It's not good or bad...just how it is. So we decide to go on, to find joy in our lives and to bring joy to the lives of others. The most noble sign of acceptance I've seen is when a grieving person, uses his empty spot as motivation to try to make the lives around him less empty.
http://www.way2hope.org/5_stages_of_grief_and_loss.htm
Anger: This stage of grief is probably the cause of the most pain from grief. Anger can cause deep and sometimes permanent wounds that are totally unnecessary. Let it go! I've had my days of shaking my fist at God, saying, "Why my brother?...Why my mother?...Why my career?" Then I had to let it go, or it would be my life that was lost...consumed in anger over things I didn't understand or control. You will experience anger in your grief. You may perceive that someone "harmed" you in some way. This stage of grief is probably a major cause of law suits, but, even if you win...all you get is money...you lose the years you allowed the anger to consume you. I used to keep mental lists of the people who had hurt me in some way, until I realized they were consuming my life...I was increasing the harm they caused me by "nursing my grudge". Let it go. Forgive them. It will give you the ability to heal from your loss.
Bargaining: This is as strange a grief behavior as Denial. It's where we try to make deals to gain back what we lost. As a minister, several years ago, I got fired from a church staff over a misunderstanding. Instead of accepting the decision, I decided to start a non-profit organization to perform the same services I had been performing and then contract with the church. I was unable to bargain my way back into that church, and once I accepted what had happened, I was able to move into areas of greater opportunity. The next few lines may offend some, but it's the best example of the bargaining in grief I can think of. In some religions, they teach of a place called Purgatory, where "sinful" relatives supposedly go after death. They are said to be punished there until they are purged (purge-atory) of their sins by the faithful donations of time and money by their living loved ones. This is a great way for grieving people to bargain with God over the fate of their loved ones. I imagine it's a great fundraiser, too. For those of you who are wondering, Purgatory is not a Biblical concept. The Bible says all it takes is belief to be with God forever, that no one can, and no one has to, earn it by good works, church attendance, or by giving. Everyone bargains over a loss in some way, trying to somehow regain what they've lost. Some people try too fast after the loss of a spouse to "replace" them. This is the bargaining part of grief and is normal but it has potentially harmful consequences. It prevents you from healing from your grief and it opens you up to picking someone who is not your lost loved one. Once reality sets in, both people are usually deeply hurt. Try to finish processing your grief (usually 2-3 years) before entering a serious relationship. If you find yourself or a loved one going to unusual extremes to recover a loss...understand it's the bargaining part of grief, try to protect them and cut them some slack.
Depression: This is the most dangerous stage of grief. Everyone goes through depression before they can heal from a major loss. My childhood Barber and his 3 friends made up a golf foursome for most of their adult life. All of them died from natural causes within one year of each other. The Barber's wife died 6 months after he did. It's possible to will yourself to death if you don't get over the depression stage of grief. With some people, depression is so deep, they don't wait for natural causes. If you feel you or a loved one is too deeply depressed over a loss, look at Depression Treating for ideas. The closer the attachment, the deeper and longer the depression will be. I remember being depressed for about 2 months after the loss of a job. I still ate and everything, but I was definitely uninterested in most any aspect of life...just wanted to give up. Within 18 months of that loss, we founded http://www.way2hope.org, and nothing has been the same since. There is always light at the end of the tunnel, but for someone suffering a great loss, the tunnel is long and dark. Unless there is a suicide threat or they are about to lose their job, house, etc. it's better to let the grieving person work through their depression. When we're going through this part of the grief process, all of life seems pointless...but then we start to see some joyful things. We almost feel guilty when we laugh or enjoy something because the one we lost isn't there. Then we start to realize that they won't be there, in a physical sense, for the rest of our lives. We choose to be happy anyway...not happy because they're gone, but happy despite their absence, and happy because that's what they would have wanted. My sister didn't want people to be moping around, so, when I spoke at her memorial, I wore a funny hat and bright lemon tennis shoes. It didn't work on any of us, but it reminded us she wanted us to be happy, anyway. That transition is what brings us to the final stage.
Acceptance: This isn't all bells and fireworks. It's a decision to be at peace with the way things are. To know that no amount of denial, bargaining, anger or depression is going to recover our loss. We begin to accept that loss is part of life. It's not good or bad...just how it is. So we decide to go on, to find joy in our lives and to bring joy to the lives of others. The most noble sign of acceptance I've seen is when a grieving person, uses his empty spot as motivation to try to make the lives around him less empty.
http://www.way2hope.org/5_stages_of_grief_and_loss.htm
Did Holden have depression?
Depression is an illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts, that affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things. People with a depressive disease cannot merely "pull themselves together" and get better. Without treatment, symptoms can last for weeks, months, or years. Appropriate treatment, however, can help most people with depression.
http://www.medicinenet.com/depression/article.htm
http://www.medicinenet.com/depression/article.htm
Did Holden have post-traumatic stress disorder?
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric condition that can develop following any traumatic, catastrophic life experience. Recognition of this condition increased dramatically following the war in Viet Nam, when many returning U.S. veterans developed disturbing psychological symptoms and impaired functioning. More recently, the 9/11 tragedy, the Asian tsunami, the London bombings, and Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath have left thousands of people at risk for this potentially debilitating condition.
PTSD symptoms can develop weeks or months, or sometimes even years, following a catastrophic event. Along with survivors of natural disasters, wars, and acts of terrorism, people who have been the victims of violent crime or torture often develop symptoms of PTSD.
PTSD symptoms vary among individuals and also vary in severity from mild to disabling. PTSD Symptoms can include one or more of the following:
PTSD symptoms can develop weeks or months, or sometimes even years, following a catastrophic event. Along with survivors of natural disasters, wars, and acts of terrorism, people who have been the victims of violent crime or torture often develop symptoms of PTSD.
PTSD symptoms vary among individuals and also vary in severity from mild to disabling. PTSD Symptoms can include one or more of the following:
- "flashbacks" about the traumatic event
- feelings of estrangement or detachment
- nightmares
- sleep disturbances
- impaired functioning
- occupational instability
- memory disturbances
- family discord
- parenting or marital difficulties
http://www.medicinenet.com/posttraumatic_stress_disorder/article.htm
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Impact on the 20th century
The book, The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger had a large impact on the twentieth century. Despite having many flaws, it is considered one of the best works of that time. It is considered very controversial by many adults. The explicit content in the book is the reason for much of the controversy. This is because of the loose moral codes it portrays. For example the main character, Holden, he discusses and participates in drinking, smoking, foul language, lying and promiscuity. Another main reason the book is considered debatable by many is because Mark David Chapman, murderer of musician John Lennon, was carrying the book when he was arrested immediately after the murder and referred to it in his statement to police."I'm sure the large part of me is Holden Caulfield, who is the main person in the book. The small part of me must be the Devil."said Chapman shortly after the assassination. But oddly enough John Lennon was reading the same book when killed.
Above pictured: Mark David Chapman
Works cited:
Incomes in 1949
In 1949 the median income for men was 2,754 which is worth about 19,938 in todays economy.
The median income for a woman in 1949 was 1,322 which is worth about 9,571 today.
The median income for a 15 year old boy was 2,346, today this would be worth 16,984.
The average income of a 15 year old girl was 960, but today that amount would be 6,950.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
At the theater
(http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r277/MedusaTCM/more%20tcm/TheRobe.jpg)Top ten movies of 1949 (click the link to see movie posters)
(http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r277/MedusaTCM/more%20tcm/RivoliTheatercometothestable.jpg)
(http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r277/MedusaTCM/more%20tcm/RivoliTheatercometothestable.jpg)Music
Freddy martin was one of the most popular artists in the year nineteen forty. His most famous song was a lovely bunch of coconuts. This song was used much later in the movie the Lion King. The top fifteen songs in the year nineteen forty nine were:
1. (Ghost) Riders In The Sky - Vaughn Monroe
2. I've Got A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts - Freddy Martin
3. "A" You're Adorable (the Alphabet Song) - Perry Como
4. I've Got A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts - Freddy Martin
5. Trouble Blues - Charles Brown Trio
6. Some Enchanted Evening - Perry Como
7. Ain't Nobody'd Business - Jimmy Witherspoon
8. I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm - Les Brown
9. The Huckle-Buck - Paul Williams and His Hucklebuckers
10. That Lucky Old Sun - Frankie Laine
11. You're Breaking My Heart - Vic Damone
12. Mule Train - Frankie Laine
13. Forever and Ever - Russ Morgan
14. She Wore A Yellow Ribbon - Eddie "Piano" Miller
Works cited:
www. google.com/images
Slang Used in the Late 1940's
A
Alderman: A man's pot belly.
Ameche: Telephone
Ankle:
(n) Woman
(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
of heroin: Little folded-up piece of paper (with heroin inside)
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:
A safe
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:
"Take a bunk" - leave, disappear
"That's the bunk" - that's false, untrue
"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:
Jail
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
Detective, even a private one
To win, as in a bet
Copped, To be: Grabbed by the cops
Copper
Policeman
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
Drugs, of any sort
Information
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
Ticket
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
Nothing, as in "Tinhorns are dust to me"
Leave, depart, as in "Let's dust"
A look, as in "Let's give it the dust"
Dust out: Leave, depart
Dutch
As in "in dutch" - trouble
As in "A girl pulled the Dutch act" - committed suicide
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:
Policeman
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
Broke
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:
Go to bed
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
To steal
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:
Con jobs
Cut of the take
Grand: $1000
Greasers:
Mexicans or Italians.
A hoodlum, thief or punk.
Grift:
As in "What's the grift?": What are you trying to pull?
Confidence game, swindle
Grifter: Con man
Grilled: Questioned
Gum:
As in "Don't ... gum every play I make": Gum up, interfere with
Opium
Gum-shoe: Detective; also gumshoeing = detective work
Gun for: Look for, be after
Guns:
Pickpockets
Hoodlums
Gunsel:
Gunman (Hammett is responsible for this use; see note)
Catamite.
"1. (p) A male oral sodomist, or passive pederast. 2. A brat. 3. (By extension) An informer; a weasel; an unscrupulous person." (Underworld)
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
Corrupt politician or functionary
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:
Drugs, mostly morphine or derivatives like heroin
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:
Suitcase
Safe, strongbox
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
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"
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
Bullet
Ear
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
(n) A drink drugged with knock-out drops
(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
Bullet
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
(n) Someone on the scene but in hiding
(v) Bury
Plug: Shoot
Plugs: People
Poke
Bankroll, stake
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
Hood, thug
"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
(n) Counterfeit
(n) Sexually abnormal
(v) To ruin something or put it wrong ("queer this racket")
R
Rags: Clothes
Ranked: Observed, watched, given the once-over
Rap
Criminal charge
Information, as in "He gave us the rap"
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
A fighter with a glass jaw
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
A dumb guy
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"
Saloon or speakeasy.
A hideout, a room or lodging
Schnozzle: Nose
Scram out: Leave
Scratch: Money
Scratcher: Forger
Screw
Leave, as in "Let's screw before anybody pops in"
Prison guard
Send over: Send to jail
Shamus: (Private) detective
Sharper: A swindler or sneaky person
Shells: Bullets
Shine
Black person
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
As a noun, bullet
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
Leave, get lost, as in "If you're not a waiter, sneak"
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
Excessive interest on a loanshark's loan
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
Good, okay, as in "white dick"
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
Alderman: A man's pot belly.
Ameche: Telephone
Ankle:
(n) Woman
(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
of heroin: Little folded-up piece of paper (with heroin inside)
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:
A safe
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:
"Take a bunk" - leave, disappear
"That's the bunk" - that's false, untrue
"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:
Jail
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
Detective, even a private one
To win, as in a bet
Copped, To be: Grabbed by the cops
Copper
Policeman
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
Drugs, of any sort
Information
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
Ticket
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
Nothing, as in "Tinhorns are dust to me"
Leave, depart, as in "Let's dust"
A look, as in "Let's give it the dust"
Dust out: Leave, depart
Dutch
As in "in dutch" - trouble
As in "A girl pulled the Dutch act" - committed suicide
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:
Policeman
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
Broke
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:
Go to bed
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
To steal
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:
Con jobs
Cut of the take
Grand: $1000
Greasers:
Mexicans or Italians.
A hoodlum, thief or punk.
Grift:
As in "What's the grift?": What are you trying to pull?
Confidence game, swindle
Grifter: Con man
Grilled: Questioned
Gum:
As in "Don't ... gum every play I make": Gum up, interfere with
Opium
Gum-shoe: Detective; also gumshoeing = detective work
Gun for: Look for, be after
Guns:
Pickpockets
Hoodlums
Gunsel:
Gunman (Hammett is responsible for this use; see note)
Catamite.
"1. (p) A male oral sodomist, or passive pederast. 2. A brat. 3. (By extension) An informer; a weasel; an unscrupulous person." (Underworld)
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
Corrupt politician or functionary
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:
Drugs, mostly morphine or derivatives like heroin
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:
Suitcase
Safe, strongbox
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
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"
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
Bullet
Ear
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
(n) A drink drugged with knock-out drops
(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
Bullet
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
(n) Someone on the scene but in hiding
(v) Bury
Plug: Shoot
Plugs: People
Poke
Bankroll, stake
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
Hood, thug
"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
(n) Counterfeit
(n) Sexually abnormal
(v) To ruin something or put it wrong ("queer this racket")
R
Rags: Clothes
Ranked: Observed, watched, given the once-over
Rap
Criminal charge
Information, as in "He gave us the rap"
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
A fighter with a glass jaw
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
A dumb guy
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"
Saloon or speakeasy.
A hideout, a room or lodging
Schnozzle: Nose
Scram out: Leave
Scratch: Money
Scratcher: Forger
Screw
Leave, as in "Let's screw before anybody pops in"
Prison guard
Send over: Send to jail
Shamus: (Private) detective
Sharper: A swindler or sneaky person
Shells: Bullets
Shine
Black person
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
As a noun, bullet
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
Leave, get lost, as in "If you're not a waiter, sneak"
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
Excessive interest on a loanshark's loan
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
Good, okay, as in "white dick"
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
Yard: $100
Yegg: Safecracker who can only open cheap and easy safes
Z
Zotzed: Killed
Z
Zotzed: Killed
Works Cited: http://www.miskatonic.org/slang.html
Historical Facts about the 1940's
FACTS about this decade.
- Population 132,122,000
- Unemployed in 1940 - 8,120,000
- National Debt $43 Billion
- Average Salary $1,299. Teacher's salary $1,441
- Minimum Wage $.43 per hour
- 55% of
- Life expectancy 68.2 female, 60.8 male
- Auto deaths 34,500
- Supreme Court decides blacks do have a right to vote
- World War II changed the order of world power; the
- Cold War begins.
http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade40.html
Life in 1949
This is what Las Vegas, as well as other big cities, looked like in 1949.
Fashion in 1949
Work cited: www.google.com/image
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
