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Dictionary of Cant and English Slang

A Collection of the Canting Words and Terms, both ancient and modern, used by Beggars, Gypsies, Cheats, House-Breakers, Shop-Lifters, Foot-Pads, Highway-Men, &c;

Taken from The Universal Etymological English Dictionary, by N. Bailey, London, 1737, Vol. II, and transcrib'd into XML Most Diligently by Liam Quin.

I (Liam Quin) have made this online edition typing in the text by hand.

Remember that this text was published in 1736 (and is actually a copy of an earlier work. Jonathan Green, the author of Chasing the Sun: Dictionary-makers & the Dictionaries They made, which I strongly recommend by the way, wrote to me to say that Bailey's addendum on cant is no more than a word-for-word reproduction of the anonymously produced New Canting Dictionary (1725) which in turn draws very heavily (93%) on The New Dict. of the Canting Crew (c. 1698) by one B. E. Gent.[leman] of whom we know nothing.

Questions or comments? Contact liam at holoweb dot net, mentioning the colour of your socks in the subject line to get past spam filters, e.g. Socks: pink with green lace.