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Tag Archives: Theft

The American Malefactor’s Dictionary: beat and its variants

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

beat – 1. to get the best of him; 2. to rob or swindle; 3. the part of a town in which a criminal or gang works; 4. to escape from prison; 5. to cheat or defraud (as in beat the hotel out of its bill). beat out of – to extort money from (a […]

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The American Malefactor’s Dictionary: bazaar

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

bazaar – a shop counter (as in the bazaar-like display of goods). Sources Matsell, George W. Vocabulum: Or, the Rogue’s Lexicon.. New York: George W. Matsell, 1859. Partridge, Eric. A Dictionary of the Underworld. New York: Bonanza Books, 1961. Note: See “Cant: The Language of the Underworld” to learn more about the background of the […]

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The American Malefactor’s Dictionary: barnacles

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Image via Wikipedia barnacles – 1. a good booty (as in “things worth sticking to”); 2. a pair of spectacles (a possible corruption of binoculi); 3. handcuffs. Sources London Antiquary, A [Hotten, John Camden]. A Dictionary of Modern Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words. 2nd ed. London: John Camden Hotten, 1860. Matsell, George W. Vocabulum: Or, […]

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The American Malefactor’s Dictionary: baggage smasher

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

baggage smasher – a man who hangs around a railway station looking for luggage to steal. Image by mattbuck4950 via Flickr Sources Partridge, Eric. A Dictionary of the Underworld. New York: Bonanza Books, 1961. Note: See “Cant: The Language of the Underworld” to learn more about the background of the American Malefactor’s Dictionary.

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Early American Criminals: Isaac Frasier’s Strike Out

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Isaac Frasier was colonial America’s most prolific burglar. In his Brief Account of the Life, and Abominable Thefts, of the Notorious Isaac Frasier, he recorded over 50 acts of burglary and theft and stated that he committed many more that he could not specifically remember. He toured all over New England and into New York, […]

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