Hardboiled slang

If you've ever read a hardboiled detective story, you may have come across a sentence like,

"I jammed the roscoe in his button and said, 'Close your yap, bo, or I squirt metal.'"

Something like this isn't too hard to decipher. But what if you encounter,

"The flim-flammer jumped in the flivver and faded."

"You dumb mug, get your mitts off the marbles before I stuff that mud-pipe down your mush - and tell your moll to hand over the mazuma."

"The sucker with the schnozzle poured a slug but before he could scram out two shamuses showed him the shiv and said they could send him over."

You may need to translate this into normal English just to be able to follow the plot.

Or maybe you want to seem tougher. Why get in a car when you can hop in a boiler? Why tell someone to shut up when you can tell them to close their head? Why threaten to discharge a firearm when you can say, "Dust, pal, or I pump lead!"

This is the language spoken by Philip Marlowe, Sam Spade, Mike Hammer and the Continental Op. When Cagney, Bogart, Robinson and Raft got in a turf war, this is how they talked.

Now, with the help of this glossary, you too can speak it like a native!

Ameche

Telephone (e-mail)

Ankle

Woman (e-mail)

Babe

Woman (Vengeance, 37)

Baby

A person, can be said to either a man or a woman (Art, 52)

Bangtails

Racehorses (Op, 74; Partridge's)

Barbering

Talking (Knockover, 70)

Be on the nut, to

To be broke (Pick-Up, 3)

Bean-shooter

Gun (Art, 156)

Beezer

Nose (e-mail)

Behind the eight-ball

On a streak of bad luck (e-mail)

Bent cars

Stolen cars (Sleep, 154)

Berries

Dollars (Knockover, 402; Thin, 148)

Big house

Jail (Knockover, 354; Op, 59)

Big one, the

Death (Falcon, 44)

Big sleep, the

Death (a term coined by Chandler) (Speaking, 88)

Bim

Woman (Lake, 191)

Bindle

1. of heroin: Little folded-up piece of paper (with heroin inside) (Art, 54)
2. The bundle (or "brindle") in which a hobo carries all his worldy possessions (e-mail)

Bindle punk

A hobo or derelict hired to do rough or unpleasant work. (Could perhaps refer to a small time drug dealer, as well.) (Pick-Up, 116).

Bindle stiff

Chronic wanderers; itinerant misfits, criminals, migratory harvest workers, and lumber jacks. Hobos who carry their own cooking utensils and blanket on their backs (ie. fry pan, stew pan, tin cup, fork, knife, spoon, etc.) From the 1890's. Called so because they carried a "bindle." A stiff was a rough, clumsy person. George and Lenny in Of Mice and Men are bindle stiffs. (e-mail)

Bing

Jailhouse talk for solitary confinement, hence "crazy" (Thin, 148)

Bird

Guy (Op, 52)

Blip off

To kill (Knockover, 366)

Blow

Leave (Knockover, 49; Playback, 39; Key, 164)

Blow one down

Kill someone (Sleep, 123)

Blower

Telephone (e-mail)

Bo

Pal, buster, fellow, as in "Hey, bo" (Sleep, 172; Farewell, 8)

Boiler

Car (Knockover, 69)

Boob

Dumb guy (Lake, 154)

Boozehound

Drunkard (Night, 3)

Bop

To kill (Sleep, 76)

Box

A safe (e-mail)

Box job

A safecracking (Art, 180)

Brace (somebody)

Grab, shake up (Art, 182)

Bracelets

Handcuffs (Op, 80)

Break it up

Stop that, quit the nonsense (Art, 133)

Breeze

To leave, go (Pick-Up, 26), also breeze off - get lost (Playback, 35)

Broad

Woman (passim)

Bruno

Tough guy, enforcer (e-mail)

Bucket

Car (Turner)

Bulge, as in "The kid had the bulge there"

The advantage (Op, 220)

Bulls

Plainclothes railroad cops; uniformed police; prison guards (Knockover, 380; e-mail)

Bump

Kill (Night, 35)

Bump off

Kill (Pick-Up, 32); also, bump-off - a killing (Sleep, 161)

Buncoing some (people)

Defrauding some people (Knockover, 205)

Bunk

1. As in "That's the bunk" - that's false, untrue (Op, 98)
2. As in "to bunk" - to sleep (Knockover, 395)

Bunny, as in "Don't be a bunny"

Don't be stupid (Pick-Up, 32)

Burn powder

Fire a gun (Knockover, 425)

Bus

Big car (Pick-Up, 72)

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. (Playback, 55)

Button

Face, as in "a poke in the button" (Farewell, 217)

Buttons

Police (Pick-Up, 29; Sleep, 66)

Butts

Cigarettes (Vengeance, 25)

Buy a drink

To pour a drink (Art, 139)

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 (Art, 90)

Buzzer

Policeman's badge (Playback, 103)

C

$100, also a pair of C's = $200 (Vengeance, 27; Sleep, 157)

Cabbage

Money (Shoot, 14)

Caboose

Jail (from "calaboose," which derives from calabosa, the Spanish word for "jail") (Farewell, 8; e-mail)

Call copper

Inform the police (Pick-Up, 156)

Can

Jail (Knockover, 203; Op, 268)

Can-opener

Safecracker who forces open cheap safes (Speaking, 89)

Case dough

"Nest egg ... the theoretically untouchable reserve for emergencies" (Speaking, 88)

Cat

Guy (Shoot, 16)

Century

$100 (Pick-Up, 32; Sleep, 162)

Cheaters

Sunglasses (e-mail)

Chew

Eat (Op, 186)

Chicago overcoat

A coffin (Sleep, 163)

Chick

Woman (Vengeance, 33)

Chilled off

Killed (Sleep, 78)

Chin

A conversation (Art, 190); also chinning = talking (Sleep, 85)

Chin music

A punch on the jaw (e-mail)

Chinese angle, as in "You're not trying to find a Chinese angle on it, are you?"

Seems to mean a strange twist, not that Chinese people are actually involved (Thin, 125)

Chinese squeeze

Grafting by skimming profits off the top (e-mail)

Chippy

Woman of easy virtue (Lake, 48)

Chisel

To swindle or cheat (Pick-Up, 157)

Chiv, chive

Knife, "a stabbing or cutting weapon" (Speaking, 87; Dain, 188)

Chopper squad

Guys with machine guns (Pick-Up, 88)

Clammed

Close-mouthed (as in clammed up) (Pick-Up, 188)

Clean sneak

An escape with no clues left behind (Knockover, 436)

Clip joint

In some cases, a night-club where the prices are high and the patrons are fleeced (Partridge's), but here, a casino where the tables are fixed (Pick-Up, 174)

Clipped

Shot (Pick-Up, 81)

Close your head

Shut up (Shoot, 16)

Clout

Shoplifter (1930s) (e-mail)

Clubhouse

Police station (Lake, 24)

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. (Knockover, 400)

Con

Confidence game, swindle (e-mail)

Conk

Head (Postman, 33)

Cool, as in "He cooled me"

To knock out ?? (Playback, 140)

Cooler, the

Jail (Op, 55)

Cop

1. Detective, even a private one (Vengeance, 140)
2. To win, as in a bet (Key, 23)

Copped

Grabbed by the cops (Op, 57)

Copper

1. Policeman (Op, 190; Key, 65)
2. As in "All time served except his copper" - ?? (Farewell, 29)

Corn

Bourbon (as in corn liquor) (Pick-Up, 186)

Crab

Figure out (Sleep, 161)

Crate

Car (Art, 39)

Creep joint

?? Can mean a whorehouse where the girls are pickpockets, but that doesn't fit here (Pick-Up, 8)

Croak

To kill (Key, 84; Pick-Up, 86)

Croaker

Doctor (Knockover, 69)

Crushed out

Escaped (from jail) (Knockover, 372; Op, 54)

Cush

Money (a cushion, something to fall back on) (Knockover, 410)

Cut down

Killed (esp shot?) (Knockover, 210)

Daisy

None-too-masculine (Art, 201)

Dame

Woman (passim)

Dangle

Leave, get lost (Pick-Up, 3)

Darb

Something remarkable or superior (Dain, 181)

Dark meat

Black person (Dain, 37)

Deck, as in "deck of Luckies"

Pack of cigarettes (Vengeance, 36; Op, 203)

Derrick

Shoplifter (1930s) (e-mail)

Diapers, as in "Pin your diapers on"

Clothes, get dressed (Key, 74)

Dib

Share (of the proceeds) (Knockover, 400)

Dick

Detective (usually qualified with "private" if not a policeman) (passim)

Dinge (Farewell)

Black person

Dingus

Thing (Falcon, 147; Op, 11)

Dip

Pickpocket (Knockover, 377)

Dip the bill

ave a drink (Sleep, 163; Art, 212)

Dish

Pretty woman (e-mail)

Dive

A low-down, cheap sort of place (Knockover, 199)

Dizzy with a dame, to be

To be deeply iin love with a woman (Art, 217)

Do the dance

To be hanged (Knockover, 446)

Dogs

Feet (Pick-Up, 17)

Doll

Woman (Pick-Up, 11), also dolly (Op, 224)

Dope

1. Drugs, of any sort (Farewell, 82, 143)
2. Information (Dain, 30; Op, 146; Sleep, 161)
3. As a verb, as in "I had him doped as" - to have figured for (Op, 233)

Dope fiend

Drug addict (Dain, 119)

Dope peddler

Drug dealer (Op, 52)

Dormy

Dormant, quiet, as in "Why didn't you lie dormy in the place you climbed to?" (Lake, 184)

Dough

Money (passim)

Drift

Go, leave (Pick-Up, 53; Sleep, 69)

Drill

Shoot (Knockover, 410)

Drink out of the same bottle, as in "We used to drink out of the same bottle."

We were close friends (Dain, 15)

Droppers

Hired killers (Double, 73)

Drum

Speakeasy (Knockover, 357)

Dry-gulch

Knock out, hit on head after ambushing (Farewell, 63)

Ducat

1. Ticket (Key, 73)
2. For hobos, a union card or card asking for alms (e-mail)

Duck soup

Easy, a piece of cake (Knockover, 44)

Dummerer

Somebody who pretends to be (deaf and?) dumb in order to appear a more deserving beggar (Knockover, 198)

Dump, as in "We did the dumps"

Roadhouse, club (Knockover, 431); or, more generally, any place (Art, 90)

Dust

1. Nothing, as in "Tinhorns are dust to me" (Pick-Up, 3)
2. Leave, depart, as in "Let's dust" (Pick-Up, 13) (also Art, 52; Sleep, 64)
3. A look, as in "Let's give it the dust" (Pick-Up, 28)

Dust out

Leave, depart (Op, 81)

Dutch

1. As in "in dutch" - trouble (Postman, 56)
2. As in "A girl pulled the Dutch act" - committed suicide (Vengeance, 122)
3. 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, 119)

Egg

Fellow (Knockover, 395)

Eggs in the coffee

Easy, a piece of cake, okay, all right (Knockover, 44; Dain, 192)

Elbows, as in "And there's no elbows tagging along"

Cops? "Elbow" also means a collar or an arrest. Someone being arrested will "have their elbows checked." (Knockover, 180; e-mail)

Electric cure

Electrocution (Key, 153)

Fade

Get lost (Shoot, 103)

Fakeloo artist

Con man (Farewell, 87)

Fin

$5 bill (Playback, 11; Vengeance, 40)

Finder

Finger man (Speaking, 87)

Finger, as in put the finger on

Identify (Knockover, 380)

Flat

1. Broke (Knockover, 413)
2. As in "That's flat" - that's for sure (Op, 99)

Flattie

Flatfoot, cop (Art, 58)

Flimflamm

Swindle (Op, 23, 251)

Flippers

Hands? (Lake, 139)

Flivver

A Ford automobile (Speaking, 87; Knockover, 436)

Flogger

Overcoat (Op, 219)

Flop

1. Go to bed (Speaking, 87)
2. As in "The racket's flopped" - fallen through, not worked out (Op, 268)

Flophouse

"A cheap transient hotel where a lot of men sleep in large rooms" (Speaking, 87)

Fog

To shoot (Falcon, 212)

Frail

Woman (Sleep, 127)

Frau

Wife (Pick-Up, 195)

From nothing, as in "I know from nothing"

I don't know anything (Shoot, 65)

Gams

Legs (especially a woman's) (e-mail)

Gashouse, as in "getting gashouse"

Rough (Pick-Up, 17)

Gasper

Cigarette (Turner)

Gat

Gun (passim)

Gate, as in "Give her the gate"

The door, as in leave (Dain, 195)

Gaycat

"A young punk who runs with an older tramp and there is always a connotation of homosexuality" (Speaking, 87)

Gee

Guy (Art, 105)

Geetus

Money (Turner)

Getaway sticks

Legs (especially a woman's) (e-mail)

Giggle juice

Liquor (Turner)

Gin mill

Bar (speakeasy?) (e-mail suggestion)

Gink

Guy (Knockover, 433)

Girlie

Woman (Vengeance, 34)

Give a third

Interrogate (third degree) (Pick-Up, 70)

Glad rags

Fancy clothes (Knockover, 366)

Glom

1. To steal (Art, 217)
2. To see, to take a look

Glaum

Steal (Knockover, 46; Dain, 17)

Go climb up your thumb

Go fly a kite, go stick your thumb up your ass (Lake, 17)

Go over the edge with the rams

To get far too drunk (Night, 25)

Go to read and write

Rhyming slang for take flight (Op, 80)

Gonif

Thief (Yiddish) (Knockover, 364)

Goofy

Crazy (Knockover, 112)

Goon

Thug (Vengeance, 49)

Goose

Guy (Knockover, 366)

Gooseberry lay

Stealing clothes from a clothesline

Gowed-up

On dope, high (Farewell, 81)

Grab (a little) air

Put your hands up (Sleep, 72; Pick-Up, 178)

Graft, the

1. Con jobs (Op, 170)
2. Cut of the take (Lake, 76)

Grand

$1000 (Pick-Up, 33)

Greasers

1. Mexicans or Italians.
2. A hoodlum, thief or punk.

(Pick-Up, 171)

Grift

1. As in "What's the grift?": What are you trying to pull? (Art, 39)
2. Confidence game, swindle

Grifter

Con man (Knockover, 354)

Grilled

Questioned (Op, 36)

Gum

1. As in "Don't ... gum every play I make": Gum up, interfere with (Op, 224)
2. Opium (e-mail)

Gum-shoe

Detective (Op, 36), also gumshoeing = detective work (Knockover, 197)

Gun for

Look for, be after (Op, 98)

Guns

1. Pickpockets (e-mail)
2. Hoodlums (Knockover, 400)

Gunsel

1. Gunman (Falcon) (Hammett invented this use)
2. Boy homosexual (Falcon)
3. "1. (p) A male oral sodomist, or passive pederast. 2. A brat. 3. (By extension) An informer; a weasel; an unscrupulous person." (Underworld)
4. (Note Yiddish "ganzl" = gosling

Hack

Taxi (Farewell, 35; Vengeance, 35)

Half, a

50 cents (Shoot, 28)

Hammer and saws

Police (rhyming slang for laws) (Knockover, 70)

Hard

Tough (Art, 119)

Harlem sunset

Some sort fatal injury caused by knife (Farewell, 14)

Hash house

A cheap restaurant (Shoot, 9)

Hatchetmen

Killers, gunmen (Knockover, 202)

Have the bees

To be rich (Knockover, 62)

Have the curse on someone

Wanting to see someone killed (Turner)

Head doctors

Psychiatrists (Night, 193)

Heap

Car (Knockover, 400; Dain, 194)

Heat

A gun (Sleep, 73), also heater (Knockover, 160)

Heeled

Carrying a gun (e-mail)

High pillow

Person at the top, in charge (Farewell, 165)

Highbinders (Knockover, 242)

1. Corrupt politician or functionary
2. "Professional killer operating in the Chinese quarter of a city"

Hittin' the pipe

Smoking opium (Op, 62)

Hitting on all eight

As in cylinders, in good shape, going well (Dain, 182)

Hock shop

Pawnshop (Dain, 63)

Hogs

Engines (Art, 175)

Hombre

Man, fellow (Sleep, 209; Knockover, 413)

Hooch

Liquor (Art, 206; Knockover, 383)

Hood

Criminal (Pick-Up, 141)

Hooker, as in "It took a stiff hooker of whiskey" (Knockover, 408)

A drink of strong liquor (Partridge's)

Hoosegow

Jail (Knockover, 354)

Hop

1. Drugs, mostly morphine or derivatives like heroin (Farewell, 143)
2. Bell-hop (Lake, 73)

Hop-head

Drug addict, esp. heroin (Op, 52)

Horn

Telephone (e-mail)

Hot

Stolen (Knockover, 70)

House dick

House detective (Vengeance, 25)

House peeper

House detective (Playback, 118)

Hype

Shortchange artist (1930s) (e-mail)

Ice

Diamonds (Dain, 17)

In stir

In jail (Knockover, 380)

Ing-bing, as in to throw an

A fit (Key, 8)

Iron

A car (Key, 115)

Jack

Money (Op, 265; Sleep, 114; Art, 104)

Jake

Okay (Pick-Up, 29; Sleep, 108)

Jakeloo

Okay (Sleep, 163)

Jam

Trouble, as in "in a jam" (Shoot, 8)

Jane

A woman (e-mail)

Jasper

A man (perhaps a hick) (Lake, 77)

Java

Coffee (e-mail)

Jaw

Talk (Op, 99)

Jerking a nod

Nodding (Turner)

Jingle-brained

Addled (Knockover, 365)

Jobbie

Guy (Knockover, 439)

Joe

Coffee, as in "a cup of joe" (e-mail)

Johns

Police (Sleep, 69)

Johnson brother

Criminal (e-mail)

Joint

Place, as in "my joint" (Knockover, 199)

Jorum of skee

Shot of liquor (Turner)

Joss house

Temple or house of worship for a Chinese religion (Knockover, 207)

Juice

Interest on a loanshark's loan (e-mail)

Jujus

Marijuana cigarettes (Farewell, 62)

Jump, the

A hanging (Dain, 203)

Junkie

Drug addict (e-mail)

Kale

Money (Art, 180)

Keister

Suitcase (Pick-Up, 11), also spelt keyster (Also means buttocks or safe/strongbox) (Key, 72)

Kick, as in "I got no kick"

I have nothing to complain about (Thin, 103)

Kick off

Die (Knockover, 69)

Kicking the gong around

Taking opium (e-mail)

Kisser

Mouth (Sleep, 173; Playback, 38)

Kitten

A woman (e-mail)

Knock off

Kill (Knockover, 197)

Knockover

Heist, theft (Knockover, 399)

Lammed off

Ran away, escaped (Lake, 37)

Large

$1,000, as in "twenty large" (e-mail)

Law, the

The police (Shoot, 121; Pick-Up, 29)

Lay

1. Job, as in Marlowe saying he's on "a confidential lay" (Farewell, 17); or more generally, what someone does, as in "The hotel-sneak used to be my lay" (Op, 86)
2. As in "I gave him the lay" - I told him where things stood (as in lay of the of land) (Op, 70)

Lettuce

Folding money (e-mail)

Lid

Hat (e-mail)

Lit, to be

To be drunk (Art, 149)

Loogan

Marlowe defines this as "a guy with a gun" (Sleep, 138)

Looker

Pretty woman (e-mail)

Look-out

Outside man (Speaking, 87)

Lousy with

To have lots of (Knockover, 363)

Lug

1. Bullet (Lake, 193)
2. Ear (Thin, 107)

Lunger

Someone with tuberculosis (e-mail)

Made

Recognized (Knockover, 99)

Map

Face (Art, 175)

Marbles

Pearls (Art, 176)

Mark

Sucker, victim of swindle or fixed game (e-mail)

Mazuma

Money (Art, 206)

Meat, as in "He's your meat"

There's your man, in this case, there's the guy you'll follow (Knockover, 368)

Meat wagon

Ambulance (Lake, 94)

Mesca

Marijuana (Playback, 126)

Mickey Finn, take a

1. Take off, leave (Op, 229)
2. A drink drugged with knock-out drops

Mill

Typewriter (Vengeance, 81)

Mitt

Hand (Art, 182; Farewell, 5)

Mob

Gang (not Mafia) (Op, 118)

Moll

Girlfriend (Knockover, 382; Playback, 55)

Monicker

Name (Knockover, 356; Vengeance, 75)

Mouthpiece

Lawyer (Pick-Up, 183)

Mud-pipe

Opium pipe (Op, 62)

Mug

Face (Op, 98)

Muggles

Marijuana (e-mail)

Mugs

Guys (esp. dumb) (Knockover, 401; Key, 87; Art, 92)

Mush

Face (Art, 191)

Nailed

Caught by the police (Thin, 109)

Nance

An effeminate man (Pick-Up, 188)

Nevada gas

Cyanide (Pick-Up, 172)

Newshawk

Reporter (Pick-Up, 17)

Newsie

Newspaper vendor (Knockover, 357)

Nibble one

To have a drink (Farewell, 6)

Nicked

Stole (Knockover, 205)

Nippers

Handcuffs (Pick-Up, 18)

Nix on (something)

No to (something) (Pick-Up, 30)

Noodle

Head (Op, 23; Playback, 14)

Nose-candy

Heroin in some cases (Knockover, 199)

Number

A person, can be either a man or a woman (Art, 33, 84)

Off the track, as in "He was too far off the track. Strictly section eight"

Said about a man who becomes insanely violent (Shoot, 117)

Op

Detective (esp. private), from "operative" (Playback, 109)

Orphan paper

Bad cheques (Dain, 109)

Out on the roof, to be

To drink a lot (Lake, 30)

Oyster fruit

Pearls (Art, 180)

Pack

To carry, esp. a gun (Knockover, 60; Op, 228)

Palooka

Guy, probably a little stupid (Knockover, 392)

Pan

Face (Art, 201)

Paste

Punch (Knockover, 66, 392)

Paw

Hand (Knockover, 246; Op, 82)

Peaching

Informing (Op, 85)

Peeper

Detective (Playback, 96; Sleep, 161)

Pen

Jail, penitentiary (Farewell, 29)

Peterman

Safecracker who uses nitroglycerin (Speaking, 89)

Pigeon

Stool-pigeon (Pick-Up, 156)

Pill

1. Bullet (Falcon, 13)
2. Cigarette (Knockover, 398; Playback, 38)

Pinch

An arrest, capture (Art, 118)

Pins

Legs (especially a woman's) (e-mail)

Pipe

See or notice (Speaking, 87)

Pipe that

Get that, listen to that (Shoot, 55)

Pipes

Throat (Thin, 110)

Pistol pockets

?? heels? (Turner)

Pitching woo

Making love (Turner)

Plant

Someone on the scene but in hiding (Lake, 183)

Plugs

People (Op, 222)

Poke

1. Bankroll, stake (Pick-Up, 32)
2. Punch (Farewell, 217)

Pooped

Killed (Key, 147)

Pop

Kill (Op, 42)

Pro skirt

Prostitute (Night, 12)

Puffing

Mugging (Knockover, 46)

Pug

Boxer (Vengeance, 83)

Pump

Heart (Falcon, 13)

Pump metal

Shoot bullets (Op, 230)

Punk

1. Hood, thug (Vengeance, 28)
2. "A jailhouse sissy who is on the receiving end." (Also as a verb, as in "to get punked.") (e-mail)

Puss

Face (Art, 27; Pick-Up, 37)

Put down

Drink (Postman, 56)

Put the screws on

Question, get tough with (Dain, 34)

Queer

1. Counterfeit (Speaking, 88)
2. Sexually abnormal (Speaking, 88)
3. As a verb, to ruin something or put it wrong ("queer this racket") (e-mail)

Rags

Clothes (Knockover, 429)

Ranked

Observed, watched, given the once-over. (Knockover, 70)

Rap

1. Criminal charge (Knockover, 47)
2. Information, as in "He gave us the rap" (Op, 51)
3. Hit (Postman, 33)

Rappers, as in "There were a couple solved for the record, but they were just rappers"

Fakes, set-ups (Farewell, 165)

Rat

Inform (Key, 78; Night, 5)

Rate

To be good, to count for something (Art, 55)

Rats and mice

Dice, i.e. craps (Dain, 29)

Rattler

Train (Dain, 158; Op, 51)

Red-light

To eject from a car or train (e-mail)

Redhot

Some sort of criminal (Pick-Up, 114)

Reefers

Marijuana cigarettes (Farewell, 172)

Rhino

Money (Knockover, 401)

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 (Pick-Up, 21)

Right gee

A good fellow (Sleep, 157)

Right guy

A good fellow (Knockover, 111)

Ringers

Fakes (Art, 176)

Rod

Gun (Op, 80, 219, 242; Vengeance, 11)

Roscoe

Gun (Key, 182)

Roundheels

1. A fighter with a glass jaw (e-mail)
2. A woman of easy virtue (e-mail)

Rub-out

A death (Knockover, 416)

Rube

Bumpkin, easy mark (Pick-Up, 127)

Rumble, the

The news (Knockover, 372)

Run-out, as in to take the

Leave, escape (Falcon, 164; Key, 18)

Sap

1. A dumb guy (passim)
2. A blackjack (passim)

Sap poison

Getting hit with a sap (Art, 188)

Savvy?

Get me? understand? (Farewell, 120)

Sawbuck

$10 (Night, 33)

Scatter, as in "And don't bother to call your house peeper and send him up to the scatter"

1. Saloon or speakeasy.
2. A hideout, a room or lodging

(Lake, 188)

Schnozzle

Nose (Art, 190)

Scram out

Leave (Lake, 76)

Scratch

Money (Art, 56)

Scratcher

Forger (Op, 49)

Screw

1. Leave, as in "Let's screw before anybody pops in" (Op, 183)
2. Prison guard (e-mail suggestion)

Send over

Send to jail (Knockover, 353; Dain, 124)

Shamus

(Private) detective (Playback, 41; Lake, 37; Sleep, 68)

Sharper

A swindler or sneaky person (Op, 75)

Shatting on your uppers

To be broke (Sleep, 161)

Shells

Bullets (Pick-Up, 3)

Shine (e-mail)

1. Black person.
2. Bootleg whiskey.

Shine box

Bar for blacks (Farewell, 5)

Shine Indian

?? (Knockover, 89)

Shiv

Knife (Speaking, 87)

Shylock

Loanshark (e-mail)

Shyster

Lawyer (Farewell, 111)

Silk, as in "all silk so far"

All okay so far (Knockover, 393)

Sister

Woman (Knockover, 44)

Skate around, as in "She skates around plenty"

To be of easy virtue (Sleep, 83)

Skid rogue

A bum who can't be trusted (e-mail)

Skipout

Leave a hotel without paying, or a person who does so (Playback, 108)

Skirt

Woman (e-mail)

Slant, get a

Take a look (Key, 31)

Sleuth

Detective (Sleep, 65)

Slug

1. As a noun, bullet (passim)
2. As a verb, to knock unconscious (Lake, 191)

Smell from the barrel, have a

Have a drink (Art, 205)

Smoke

A black person (Farewell, 14; Pick-Up, 111)

Smoked

Drunk (Key, 182)

Snap a cap

Shout (Op, 84)

Snatch

Kidnap (Pick-Up, 156)

Sneak

1. Leave, get lost, as in "If you're not a waiter, sneak" (Op, 73)
2. Type of burglary, as in as in "The hotel-sneak used to be my lay" (Op, 86)

Sneeze

Take (Pick-Up, 102)

Snitch

An informer, or, as a verb, to inform

Snooper

Detective (Lake, 18)

Snort (as in of gin)

A drink (Art, 56)

Snow-bird

(Cocaine) addict (Pick-Up, 78; Knockover, 202)

Snowed

To be on drugs (heroin? cocaine?) (Pick-Up, 97); also snowed up (Op, 149)

Soak

To pawn (Knockover, 92)

Sock

Punch (Knockover, 66; Sleep, 173; Art, 153)

Soup

Nitroglycerine (e-mail)

Soup job

To crack a safe using nitroglycerine (Double, 77)

Souping the kidneys

?? driving fast? (Turner)

Spill

Talk, inform (Pick-Up, 43; Sleep, 99), spill it = tell me (Shoot, 96)

Spinach

Money (Knockover, 385)

Spitting

Talking (Knockover, 70)

Spondulix

Money (e-mail)

Square

Honest (Art, 130), "on the square" = telling the truth (Knockover, 379)

Squirt metal

Shoot bullets (Knockover, 67)

Step off

To be hanged (Knockover, 446)

Sticks of tea

Marijuana cigarettes (Farewell, 62)

Stiff

A corpse (Pick-Up, 195; Sleep, 99)

Sting

Culmination of a con game (e-mail)

Stool-pigeon

Informer (Op, 148; Knockover, 199)

Stoolie

Stool-pigeon (Art, 53)

Stringin'

As in along, feeding someone a story (Knockover, 356)

Sucker

Someone ripe for a grifter's scam (Knockover, 203)

Sugar

Money (Pick-Up, 50; Op, 71)

Swift, to have plenty of

To be fast (on the draw) (Lake, 201)

Swing

Hang (Op, 42)

Tail

Shadow, follow (Pick-Up, 67)

Take a powder

Leave (Pick-Up, 29)

Take it on the heel and toe

Leave (Knockover, 70)

Take on

Eat (Op, 183)

Take the air

Leave (Sleep, 85)

Take the bounce

To get kicked out (here, of a hotel) (Art, 102)

Take the fall for

Accept punishment for (Dain, 56)

Tea

Marijuana (Playback, 126)

That's the crop

That's all of it (Dain, 158)

Three-spot

Three-year term in jail (Art, 85)

Throw a joe

Pass out ?? (Key, 86)

Throw lead

Shoot bullets (Sleep, 139; Op, 216)

Ticket

P.I. license (Vengeance, 15)

Tiger milk

Some sort of liquor (Thin, 110)

Tighten the screws

Put pressure on somebody (Knockover, 81)

Tin

Badge (e-mail)

Tip a few

To have a few drinks (Pick-Up, 21)

Tip your mitt

Show your hand, reveal something (Knockover, 98)

Tomato

Pretty woman. Also "hot tomato" (e-mail)

Tooting the wrong ringer

Asking the wrong person (Knockover, 68)

Torcher

Torch singer (Sleep, 116)

Torpedoes

Gunmen (Farewell, 215)

Trap

Mouth (Vengeance, 13)

Trigger man

Guy who does the shooting on a job (Sleep, 209)

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 (Art, 209)

Trouble boys

Gangsters (Art, 85)

Turn up

To turn in (to the police) (Falcon, 164)

Twist

Woman (Falcon, 164; Knockover, 46; Sleep, 163)

Two bits

$25 (Key, 3), or 25 cents.

Up-and-down, as in "to give something the up-and-down"

A look (Knockover, 97)

Uppers, as in "I've been shatting on my uppers for a couple of months now"

Broke (Knockover, 54)

Vag, as in vag charge, vag law

Vagrancy (Op, 52)

Vig, Vigorish

1. Excessive interest on a loanshark's loan (e-mail)
2. Advantage in odds created by a bookie or gambler to increase profit (e-mail)

Weak sister

A push-over (Op, 42)

Wear iron

Carry a gun (Sleep, 67)

Wheats, as in "a stack of wheats"

Pancakes (Op, 183)

White

1. Good, okay, as in "white dick" (Knockover, 379)
2. As in a gallon of - gin (Dain, 175)

Wikiup

Home (Turner)

Wire, as in "What's the wire on them?"

News, "What information do you have about them?" (Shoot, 24)

Wise, to be

To be knowledgeable of (Pick-Up, 32), "put us wise" - tell us (Lake, 81)

Wise head

A smart person (Thin, 106)

Wooden kimono

A coffin (e-mail)

Worker, as in "She sizes up as a worker"

A woman who takes a guy for his money (Op, 139)

Wrong gee

Not a good fellow (Sleep, 184)

Wrong number

Not a good fellow (Art, 84)

Yank

?? tough situation? (Turner)

Yap

Mouth (Vengeance, 12)

Yard

$100 (Pick-Up, 103; Art, 54)

Yegg

Safecracker, "who can only open a rather cheap and vulnerable safe" (Op, 51, 146; Speaking, 89)

Zotzed

Killed (e-mail)

Bibliography

Key:

Abbreviation = Full Title (year of first publication) by Author (Publisher and year of publication for the copy I used)

Probably no-one will care about exact page references, but they were included for the sake of completeness.

(* = not as yet analyzed for slang, ss = short stories collected years after first publication)

I intend to go through the remaining works of Chandler and Hammett looking for more slang terms, and then move on to other hardboiled authors. Interestingly, some of the toughest of the hardboiled writers (like Mickey Spillane) don't use that much slang, but occasionally words do crop up that aren't used by anyone else.