Thieves Cant
I found this page while doing some research for my writing. It is a basic dictionary of the slang used by thieves in the 18th and 19th century. It’s hardly comprehensive but it does give a feeling for the language.
The site isn’t very impressive graphically, nor does it have any search functions above what your browser can offer you but it’s easy to use and very interesting. Be careful when using the English to Cant section, however, as it puts together words, without explanation that have significant differences in the Cant to English section. For example, mad Tom is listed under beggar with no further clarification but if you look it up in the Cant to English section, you will find that it’s a “beggar who feigns madness”.
It’s a lot of fun and useful in certain contexts.
The Canting Dictionary [thieving slang], 1736 and The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue have more words but they are impossible to search effectively. For one there is no English to Cant so you need to know the word in Thieves Cant to look it up. The navigation is also somewhat awkward and it allows no searching whatsoever, only browsing.
Back from the holidays
Jim Breen’s Japanese Dictionary
This website was a godsend to me while I was studying Japanese as an undergrad. You can search for Japanese words in roman script or in kana and kanji or search for English words. It also includes a kanji dictionary which can be searched by meaning, reading, stroke number and radical. It also allows you to input whole sentences in Japanese for translation (although it translates the individual words and like most online translators has little to no understanding of the grammar).
This is probably the best freely- available Japanese dictionary and many of the others are based on it. It’s good for beginners and experts.
