Baldy: an old man.
Ball: a dollar.
Batter: to beg.
Beefer: one who "squeals" on, or gives away, a tramp or criminal.
Blanket-Stiff: a Western tramp; he generally carries a blanket with him on his travels.
Blind-Baggage: the front end of a baggage-car having no door.
Bloke: a fellow; synonymous with "plug," "mug," and "stiff."
Blowed-in-the-Glass Stiff: a trustworthy "pal"; a professional.
'Bo: a hobo.
Brakey: a brakeman.
Bughouse: crazy.
Bull: a policeman.
Bundle: plunder from a robbery.
Chew: to eat or "feed."
Chew the Rag: to talk.
Chi (pronounced "Shi"): Chicago.
Cincie: Cincinnati.
Con: a conductor.
Cooler: a dark cell.
Cop: a policeman. To be "copped" is to get arrested. A "fly-cop" is a detective.
Crib: a saloon or gambling-place; more or less synonymous with "joint" and "hang-out."
Croak: to die, or to kill.
Crocus: a doctor.
Crook: a professional criminal. "Crooked work" means thieving.
Dead: reformed. A "dead" criminal is either discouraged or reformed.
Dicer: a hat.
Dip: a pickpocket.
Ditch, or Be Ditched: to get into trouble, or to fail at what one has undertaken. To be "ditched" when riding on trains means to be put off, or to get locked into a car.
Dope, The: the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
Doss: noun, sleep; verb, to sleep.
Doss-House: a lodging-house.
Dump: a lodging-house or restaurant; synonymous with "hang-out."
Elbow: a detective.
Fawny Man: a peddler of bogus jewelry.
Fence: a receiver of stolen goods.
Finger: }
Flatty: } a Policeman; synonymous with "bull."
Flagged: when a man is said by criminals or tramps to be "flagged," it means that he is permitted to go unmolested.
Flicker: noun, a faint; verb, to faint or pretend to faint.
Gag: any begging trick.
Galway: a Catholic priest.
Gay-Cat: an amateur tramp who works when his begging courage fails him.
Ghost-Story: any statement or report that is not true. When told to young boys it means a "faked" story of tramp life.
Graft: a line of business; synonymous with "spiel."
Grafter: a pickpocket.
Gun: a fellow; more or less synonymous with "bloke," "stiff," "mug," and "plug."
Guy: a fellow.
Hand-Out: a bundle of food handed out to a beggar at the back door.
Hang-Out: the hobo's home.
Hit the Road: to go tramping.
Hobo: a tramp. Derivation obscure. Farmer's "Americanisms" gives: "Ho-Boy, or Haut-Boy: a New York night-scavenger."
Hoister, or Hyster: a shoplifter.
Hoosier: a "farmer." Everybody who does not know the world as the hobo knows it is to him a "farmer," "hoosier," or outsider.
Horn, The: a triangular extension of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, running from Red Oak, Iowa, southwest some twenty miles, and then northwest to Pacific Junction on the main line.
Horstile: angry, unfriendly, hostile.
Jigger: a sore, artificially made, to excite sympathy.
Jiggered: "done," beaten. When used as an exclamation, as in "I'll be jiggered," it means "I'll be damned," or words to that effect.
Jocker: a tramp who travels with a boy and "jockers" him—trains him as a beggar and protects him from persecution by others.
Joint: practically, any place where tramps congregate, drink, and feel at home.
Kip-House: a lodging-house.
Kip Town: a good lodging-house town.
Leather: a pocket-book. "To reef a leather" means that the pickpocket pulls out the lining of a pocket containing the "leather"; this is frequently the best way of capturing a pocket-book.
Lighthouse: one who knows every detective by sight, and can "tip him off" to his comrades.
Main Guy: the leader.
Mark: a person or house "good" for food, clothes, or money.
Meal-Ticket: a person "good" for a meal.
Monikey: the tramp's nickname, as "New Orleans Blackie," "Mississippi Red," etc.
Mooch: to beg; also, to "light out," "clear out."
Moocher: a beggar. This word is the generic term for tramps in England.
Mug: noun, a fellow; verb, to photograph.
Mush-Fakir: an umbrella-mender. The umbrellas which he collects are frequently not returned.
Office: to "give the office" is to give a signal to a confederate. It is usually done by raising the hat.
On the Hog: on the tramp; also, "busted," "dead broke."
P.A.: Pennsylvania.
Paper: stocks and bonds.
Pen: a penitentiary
Pennsylvania Salve: apple-butter.
Pennyweighters: jewelry thieves.
Peter: a safe thief. "Knock-out drops" are also "peter."
Phillie: Philadelphia.
Plug: a fellow; synonymous with "bloke" and "stiff."
Poke-Out: a lunch; synonymous with "hand-out."
Pound the Ear: to sleep.
Prushun: a tramp boy. An "ex-prushun" is one who has served his apprenticeship as a "kid" and is "looking for revenge," i. e., for a lad that he can "snare" and "jocker," as he himself was "snared" and "jockered."
Punk and Plaster: bread and butter.
Push: a gang.
Q.: the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, popularly known as the C.B.&Q.
Queer, The: counterfeit money.
Repeater, or Revolver: an old-timer; a professional criminal and a "blowed-in-the-glass" tramp.
Ringer: a bell.
Rube: a "hoosier," or "farmer."
Saps: a clubbing with weapons made from saplings; synonymous with "timber." (See below.)
Scoff: noun, food, "nourishment"; verb, to "feed," to "gorge."
Scrapper: a victim of either tramps or criminals who "puts up a fight."
Screw: a prison turnkey.
Set-Down: a square meal.
Settled: in prison.
Shack: a brakeman.
Shatin' on me Uppers: to be "shatin'" on one's "uppers" is to be "dead broke."
Shove: a gang.
Shover: a man who passes counterfeit money.
Side-Door Pullman: a box-car.
Sinker: a dollar; synonymous with "ball."
Slope: to run away.
Slopping-Up: a big drunk.
Snare: to entice a boy into tramp life.
Sneaks: flat or house thieves. A bank sneak is a bank thief.
Snipe: cigar-butts—the favorite tobacco among hoboes.
Song and Dance: a begging story or trick.
Spark: a diamond.
Spiel: something to peddle. Hoboes often carry needles, pins, court-plaster, and the like. On meeting one another, they ask: "What's your spiel?" ("What are you hawking?") (See "graft.")
Spiked: upset, chagrined, disappointed, disgusted.
Squealer: one who gives away the gang.
Stake-Man: a fellow who holds a position only long enough to get a "stake"—enough money to keep him in "booze" and tobacco while he is on the road. The tramps call him a "gay-cat."
Stall: the pickpocket's companion.
Stiff: a fellow; synonymous with "bloke" and "plug."
Sucker: a victim of both tramps and criminals.
Throw the Feet: to beg, "hustle," or do anything that involves much action.
Timber: a clubbing at the hands of the toughs of a town unfriendly to tramps. (See "Saps.")
Tomato-Can Vag: the outcast of Hoboland; a tramp of the lowest order, who drains the dregs of a beer-barrel into an empty tomato-can and drinks them; he generally lives on the refuse that he finds in scavenger barrels.
Toot the Ringer: ring the bell.
Turf: the road, or low life in general.
Turf It: to be on the road.
Yap: noun, a farmer or "hoosier"; verb, to say or to tell.
York: New York city.
