Cockney villains

• Dodgy Geezers

• bang to rights - caught red-handed committing a crime, or otherwise fairly and squarely
• blag - robbery
• blagger - him wot done the blag
• bent - stolen, or otherwise dishonestly acquired
• chaw - steal
• chiv - knife, or blade
• claret - blood (Claret everywhere! - a right messy business)
• (to get) dark - to become very displeased, to turn 'heavy'
• dodgy - of dubious legality
• dodgy gear - (i) stolen property (ii) counterfeit goods
• dodgy geezer - villain
• drum - place of residence
• firm - a gang of villains working together
• funny money - counterfeit money
• gaff - place of residence (As in 'turn over 'is gaff' = search his home)
• going equipped - being in possession of house-breaking tools
• grass - to inform (the police) an informer (As in 'I ain't no gwass')
• have it away on your toes - speedily escape (from the scene of the crime)
• have it over the wall - escape following a break-in
• it's a fair cop - antique response to you're nicked (qv)
• job - a villainous enterprise
• lock-up - a lock-up garage used by villains to stash dodgy gear (qv)
• manor - territory
• minder - bodyguard and general fixer
• motor - motor car (As in: ' 'ello John, gotta new motah?')
• mob-'anded - force in numbers
• moody - obfuscating, deceptive and unco-operative (As in 'e's gone a bit
• moody on me')
• naughty boys - usually used by villains to refer to other villains who are
• out of order (qv)
• the nick - police station, or prison
• nicking - stealing (Confusing: 'to nick' can also mean 'to arrest')
• old bill - the Metropolitan Police. (n.b. not usually the old bill)
• patch - territory
• the plot - area under police surveillance
• put the frighteners on - to intimidate, possibly with the threat of
• violence
• Roller - Rolls-Royce motor car
• sawnoff - sawn-off shotgun
• shooter - firearm
• shop - to betray to the police
• skyman - pickpocket (From sky rocket (qv) - pocket)
• snide - counterfeit
• snout - paid informant regularly providing information to the police
• sparklers - diamonds
• t.d.a. - taking and driving away (a motor-vehicle without the owner's
• consent)
• tooled up - carrying weapons
• wheelman - driver of getaway vehicle
• you're nicked! - you're under arrest
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• [At the nick]
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• " 'Allo 'allo 'allo, who's been a naughty boy, then?"
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• The Nick
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• bheulux - complete nonsense: a feisty response to leading questions during interrogation
• bodies - people arrested
• brief - solicitor, and also barrister (As in: 'give my brief a bell' = call
• him on the telephone)
• backhander = bribe
• bung = backhander
• coppers - bastards!
• done up like a kipper - outmanoeuvred by the opposition strategy
• a drink - bribe (As in: 'there might be a drink in it for you'; a big drink - large bribe
• filth - police
• fitted-up - charged with an offence regardless of guilt or innocence using manufactured evidence
• guv'nor - Police Detective Inspector or Chief Inspector
• in the frame - suspected by the police of being involved in a particular crime
• the law - the police
• low-life - verminous villain
• overdue - time you were convicted of something considering your habitual villainy
• out of order - contravening unwritten but well known codes of behaviour
• put your hands up - admit responsibility for a crime
• skipper - Detective Sergeant
• slag - (i) female of dubious morals; (ii) more broadly, a treacherous
• villain
• slag off - verbally compromise another's reputation
• a spin - rattle some villains by rounding them up and interrogating them
• stitched up - similar to done up like a kipper (qv)
• talking telephone numbers - referring to a considerable sum of money
• toerag - contemptuous term for especially lowlow-life (qv)
• well hard - extremely tough, possibly with a reputation for violence
• woodentops - derogatory term applied to uniformed officers by CID
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• A Result
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• The Bailey - Central Criminal Court in Old Bailey, EC4
• banged up - imprisoned
• beak - judge (Somewhat antique but still in use)
• bird - a prison sentence, time spent in prison (See Rhyming Slang)
• carpet - three months imprisonment (See Rhyming Slang)
• cockle - ten years imprisonment (See Rhyming Slang)
• go down - to be sentenced to imprisonment (See take him down (qv))
• The Island - HM Prison Parkhurst (on the Isle of Wight)
• The Moor - HM Prison Dartmoor
• inside - staying at one of the above
• nonce - sexual offender (Ignominious company for your proper villain in the nick)
• porridge - time spent in prison
• result - successful conviction
• screw - prison warder
• The Scrubs - HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs
• snout - used inside to mean tobacco, not an informant
• stir - prison
• take him down - the judge's last words to a convicted villain (The holding cells are often under the courtroom)