Reference from a Rogue Librarian

The Lexicon of 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.