An Abram man (q.v.). So called from the German krank (sickly), whence cranky, “idiotic, foolish, full of whims,” and cranks (simulated sickness). These beggars were called cranks because they pretended madness and sickness to excite compassion.
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.
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