Oh-ho! Are you in for a treat!* I just (re)discovered Vocabulum; or The Rogue's Lexicon: Complied from the Most Authentic Sources, by George W. Matsell, Special Justice, Chief of Police., etc., etc. (yes, it actually includes those two etceteras after his name and titles), 1859, New York.
So I plan to trip merrily through this document in my usual random manner and share fascinating bits of scoundrel slang with you.
And by trip, I promise not to engage in the sort of behavior of mid-19th-century trippers and floorers.
And who were these folks? Want to guess?
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I shall elucidate, with the definition provided by Special Justice, Chief of Police (etc., etc.) Mr. Matsell:
FLOORERS or TRIPPERS. Fellows that cause persons to slip or fall in the street, and then, while assisting them up, steal their watch or portmonnaie**. They are sometimes called "rampers." A gentleman in a hurry on his way to the bank, or any other place of business, is suddenly stopped by a fellow directly in front of him, going in an opposite direction to himself, who has apparently slipped or stumbled, and in endeavoring to save himself from falling, thrusts his head into the pit of the gentleman's stomach, thereby knocking him down; Immediately two very kind gentlemen, one on each side, assist him to rise, and when on his feet busy themselves in brushing the dirt from his clothing, during which operation they pick his pockets. Thanking his kind assistants with much profusencss, he goes on his way, and very soon afterwards finds himself minus his watch or pocket-book, and perhaps both.
Now, to figure out how to insert some floorers, trippers, or rampers into my work-in-progress...
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| Watch your pockets! (Dandy Pickpockets Diving, by Isaac Robert Cruikshank (English, 1789-1856). Art Institute Chicago, https://www.artic.edu/artworks/89782) |
*and maybe a few tricks along the way...
**According to Merriam-Webster, a portmonnaie is a small pocketbook or purse
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4 comments:
Not nice, given descriptions of 19th Century streets (and 21st).
Fascinating, Ann. I've heard that pickpockets today lurk near notices that say "Watch out for pickpockets" because many people's instinctive reaction to reading such warnings is to pat the pocket where their valuables are, to make sure they are still there. Nice giveaway! Wonder if there's a slang term for that?
Oooh, the conditions of the streets! No wonder the gentleman was so distracted!
Hi Jane! I love that! What a great little "detail." :-) That instinctive gesture is a definite "tell!" See - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tell_(poker)
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