Thieves' Cant. It was one of two secret languages mentioned in the 1st Edition AD&D Player's Handbook. Dragon Magazine, somewhere in the late issue 60's or early 70's even published a dictionary of the Thieves Cant suitable for removing from your Dragon Mag, folding along the lines, and having a pocket reference of sorts. But really, what is Thieves Cant? Another language? A dialect of Common? Choice coded words? Probably more of the later then anything else.
I came across A Hairbag's Guide to Cop Speak for the NYPD today, and it is pretty much Thieves Cant for cops, localized. That is the way I expect Thieves Cant would work in game... a local coded speak for the Thieves Guild.
Below is the Hairbag's Guide to Cop Speak for the NYPD, added to and edited by me to add omissions as I recall them (it is the lingo of my job). It is extremely regional... Police Departments neighborng NYC may use some of the same terms and may use different terms... as I said, it is extremely localized:
Adult Beverages: Alcohol
Back in the bag: An officer who is demoted from a plainclothes to uniform detail
Bag OF Shit: A miserable, no-chance-of-being-solved case
Boss: General term for any police supervisor
Bus: Ambulance
Bracelets: Handcuffs
Choir practice: A drinking party
Cocktails: Manhattan detectives are fond of this term for getting drinks
Dee Wee: Driving While Intoxicated
DOA: dead person (literally, dead on arrival)
EDP: crazy person (literally, emotionally disturbed person)
The Farm: Rehab
Flopped: Bounced out of a detail
Fly: to move from one command or detail to another
Gentleman: What cops call a stand-up boss. Top commanders, however,
sometimes think this means the boss is a pushover who doles out too much OT
Hairbag: An old-timer who thinks he knows everything
Highway Therapy: Transfer against will to a command furthest from one's residence. An “Unofficial Punishement”
The House: Stationhouse
Housemouse: A cop who is afraid to leave the station house and go on patrol; a sissy
It is what it is: A euphemism for a screw-up with political overtones
In the wind: At large, said of a suspect
The Job: Working at the NYPD
Job: A radio run or assignment
Loo: Friendly term for a lieutenant
Mope: Criminal
One Way / One Way Street: Cop out only for themselves
Perp: Perpetrator of a crime
On a Personal: Bathroom Break
Puzzle Palace: A derogatory term for NYPD headquarters in lower Manhattan
Rat Squad: Internal Affairs Bureau
RMP: A squad car (literally, radio motor patrol)
Rumproaster: Vice squad term for a perv who rubs up against an unsuspecting person
Sarge: Sergeant
Skel: Criminal
Snitch: Informant
The Squad: Beat cop’s term for a precinct detective squad
The job is on the level: Sarcastic phrase meaning the job is unfair
Tool: Asshole
Tune Up: To beat someone up
Wood shampoo / Bronx Party Hat: To beat an unruly suspect about the head with a baton
Think how this would work in a D&D Campaign:
"Man the Loo is a tool. He's all bent that I gave a skel a wood shampoo. What did he expect, the guy was an EDP. He's even sicked the Rat Squad on me!"
You don't need a lot of words or phrases to make your own Cant... a dozen or so choice ones will keep your players on their toes and you can add more as you find the need.
Against the Court of Urdor - Part 4
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*The Broken Temple, the Dread Wolves, the Tower of the Morning Star, and
Soggy Fields.*
*February 1000 2AH* (Second Age of Humanity)*: 1st – 12th. *
(A rec...
1 hour ago
I remember those little dictionaries from Dragon mag. Good stuff!
ReplyDelete"Wood Shampoo"! That is great.
ReplyDelete