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 d.a.m.ned," 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.