Harboiled Glossary
Compiled by John Knoerle
The argot of the underworld has a poetry all its own. Consider the following.
“The buttons don’t like it when a slewfoot gets topped. Especially with his own gat by a gowed-up twist in a rib joint.”
To translate, see below:
ankle – walk, leave the scene
arm-breaker – hired muscle
bangtail – racehorse, also a prostitute
basted, boiled, oiled, out on the roof, roofed, tanked – drunk
beezer – nose
belly gun – short-barreled pistol
berries, cabbage, plasters, snaps – cash money, dollar bill
bindlestiff – hobo, migrant worker
bitch kitty – an obnoxious woman or girl
blower – telephone
boiler – car
bollixed – fouled up
bones – dice
box job – safe cracking
bughouse – insane asylum
bull bitch – a masculine woman
bulls – railroad police, prison guards
burleycue – burlesque show
busted flush – a bad deal, a failure
butter and egg man – the man with the money
buttons, elbows, goms, Johns, muzzlers – cops
buzzer, potsy, tin – a policeman’s badge
C, C-note – hundred dollar bill
caboose, icehouse, jug, sneezer – jail
cackle-broad – a society woman
cake eater – a dandy, a ladies’ man
California bible, California prayer book – deck of playing cards
to can – incarcerate
Chicago overcoat – a casket
Chicago typewriter – a machine gun
to chill, clip, grease, ice, push, spot, top, top off – kill
Chinese angle – unusual twist
to chump – fool, put one over on
to clank – panic
clean sneak – a successful getaway
coffin nail, gasper, pill – cigarette
coffin varnish, panther piss, phlegm cutter, tarantula soup – cheap liquor
corn, cush, geetus, jack – money
creep joint – a gambling parlor that migrates to avoid detection
croaker – doctor
the crop – all of it
dangle, drift, dust, dust out – go, leave
darb – a beautiful woman, anything of high quality
deek – detective
dib – share of the loot
dinch – cigarette butt
ding donger – aggressive person
dinge joint, shinebox – a black only bar or club
dipsy doodle – chicanery
dog wagon – cheap restaurant
eel juice – liquor
eightball – a loser
have your elbows checked – get arrested
fin – five dollar bill
that’s flat – that’s for certain
frail, jane, twist, wren – a woman or girl
frogskin – dollar bill
to gaff – shortchange
gams, pins, stems – a woman’s legs
gat, heater, iron, piece, rod, roscoe, tickler – a handgun
get a can on, tie a bag on – get drunk
gink – a stupid man
to glim, to hinge – see, take a look
to glom – seize, steal
goozle – throat
gow, hop – heroin, any narcotic
gunsel – an armed criminal, also a young homosexual
Harlem sunset – a fatality with a knife
head full of bees – crazy or confused
heaters, peepers – eyes
heeled – carrying a gun
highbinder – a corrupt politician
high pillow – the boss
hotcha – desirable, especially a woman
hype – a junkie
ing bing – a fit, an outburst
in jigtime – quickly
jingle brained – addled
to jug – to incarcerate
juice dealer – a loan shark
kelly, lid, skimmer – a man’s hat
kick – complaint
the lay – the setup, the arrangement
to lay paper – to pass counterfeit cash or bad checks
left handed – dubious, unlucky
loogan – a hoodlum, especially Irish
lox jockey – a Jew
lunch hooks – hands
map – face
meat wagon – ambulance
Mexican breakfast – a glass of water and a cigarette
the mop – the final word, the summation of events
mush, yap – mouth
nance – an effeminate man
to nick – take money from
nippers – handcuffs
on the nut, on my uppers – broke
on the pad – on the take
orphan paper – a bad check
oyster fruit – pearls
palm oil, salve – a bribe
to peach, to squeal, to turn up – inform
pissing on ice – living well
plaster – a tail, also a banknote
poke – wallet, bankroll
pro skirt – a prostitute
rats and mice – dice, craps
rib joint – a brothel
rub joint – a hall with taxi dancers
rug joint – a fancy nightclub
What’s the rumble?- what’s going on?
sawbuck – ten dollars
scatter – a room or hideout, also a speakeasy or club
second-story man -a burglar
to send over – betray
to shag – tail, chase
on the shake, to shake – blackmail, extortion
shamus – private eye, also a police informer
sheever – a traitor, police informer
slapman – an undercover cop
slewfoot – a cop
smoke – a black person, also to kill with a gun
table grade – said of an attractive woman
tag – an arrest warrant
taped – under control, cinched
throw a bop into – have sex with
tip your mitt – show your cards
torpedo – an armed thug, a hit man
under glass – in jail
woo bait – an attractive female
wrong gee, wrong number – an untrustworthy person
in a yank – in a rush
yard – $100, sometimes $1000
yegg – thief, safe cracker
zazoo – a man, a sharp dresser
Phrases
all aces, all silk so far – everything’s good
all wool and a yard wide – first rate
beat down to the ankles – worn out
cut me a huzz – tell me what’s happening
dogshit and razorblades – junk, worthless information
from hell to breakfast – thoroughly, all the way
grab a cloud – raise your hands
like shit through a tin horn – quickly
the squeeze ain’t worth the juice – not worth the effort
What’s the wire on this guy? – What’s the background, the story?
World War II Slang
appleknocker – a hick
Admiral of the Swiss Navy – a self-important person
armored cow – canned milk
beached – broke
bimbo dust – face powder
a dirty blim – a nasty look
blivit – anything superfluous or annoying
boodle bag – a kit or Haversack
brass pounder, dit da artist – a radiotelegraph operator
bunk lizard, sack rat – a lazy soldier
buzzard – a member of the Army Air Corps
cloud wagon – an airplane
condition black – most severe of color-coded danger warnings
dead battery – a pessimist
feather merchants – snide term for civilians
fuselage – a woman’s body
gas house – a saloon
gazoonie – an ignoramus
gig, to gig – a demerit, to cite for a rule violation
grass cutter – a fragmentation bomb
gun bunnies, muzzle monkeys – artillery gunners
hash burner – a cook
Heinie – a German
hit the silk – to parachute
in everyone’s mess and nobody’s watch – said of a freeloader
Jerry – a German soldier
latrine lawyer – an argumentative soldier, a complainer
moo oil – lies, exaggeration
pie tickets, rubber flag, tent stretcher – imaginary items used to test a recruit’s gullibility
pogled – dazed, confused
prang – to bomb heavily
ruptured duck – the Screaming Eagle button given to all WWII vets
scrag – a cigarette
section eight – a crazy person
the snake’s whiskers – the very best
tarfu – ‘things are really fucked up’
Uncle Sugar – the U.S. government
wing heavy – drunk
zero-zero – point blank range, also visibility zero, ceiling zero