.May, 1946. America is basking in hard-won peace and prosperity. The OSS has been disbanded, CIA does not yet exist. Rumors swirl about the Red Army massing tanks along the Elbe in East Germany.
Former OSS agent Hal Schroeder gets an offer from Global Commerce LTD to be a trade rep in Berlin. He flies to New York to meet his new boss. Hal’s jaw drops when former OSS Chief Wild Bill Donovan strides in. Schroeder, who survived perilous duty behind German lines, says he is no longer interested in being a spy. General Donovan assures him that’s not part of his job description.
Hal comes to doubt that when he meets his immediate superior in Berlin. It’s Victor Jacobson, the case officer who sent him on repeated suicide missions in WWII.
John Knoerle's Glossary of Slang
As I fiction writer I love slang, there’s a certain poetry to it. And as a writer of late ‘40s spy and mystery novels I especially love the argot of the underworld of that era. I put a glossary of that slang together from reading everything from Black Mask magazine to Mickey Spillane novels. The films noir were also a good source.
Here’s a sample of what I found. For a more extensive list visit my website at http://www.bluesteelpress.com/
--John Knoerle
“The buttons don’t like it when a slewfoot gets topped. Especially with his own gat by a gowed-up twist in a rib joint.”
To translate, see below:
arm-breaker - hired muscle
bangtail - racehorse, also a prostitute
basted, boiled, oiled, out on the roof, roofed, tanked - drunk
beezer - nose
berries, cabbage, plasters, snaps - cash money, dollar bills
bindlestiff - hobo, migrant worker
bitch kitty – an obnoxious woman or girl
bones - dice
box job - safe cracking
bughouse - insane asylum
bulls - railroad police, prison guards
burleycue – burlesque show
busted flush - a bad deal, a failure
butter and egg man - the man with the money
buttons, elbows, goms, Johns, muzzlers - cops
buzzer, potsy, tin - a policeman’s badge
C, C-note - hundred dollar bill
caboose, icehouse, jug, sneezer - jail
cackle-broad - a society woman
cake eater - a dandy, a ladies’ man
California bible, California prayer book - deck of playing cards
Chicago overcoat - a casket
Chicago typewriter - a machine gun
to chill, clip, grease, ice, push, set over, spot, top, top off - kill
Chinese angle - unusual twist
to clank - panic
clean sneak - a successful getaway
coffin nail, gasper, pill - cigarette
coffin varnish, panther piss, phlegm cutter, tarantula soup - cheap liquor
corn, cush, geetus, jack - money
creep joint - a gambling parlor that migrates to avoid detection
croaker - doctor
dangle, drift, dust, dust out - go, leave
darb - a beautiful woman, anything of high quality
deek - detective
ding donger - aggressive person
dipsy doodle - chicanery
dog wagon - cheap restaurant
eightball - a loser
have your elbows checked - get arrested
fin - five dollars
frail, jane, twist, wren, x-ray - a woman or girl
frogskin - a dollar bill
to gaff - shortchange
gams, pins, stems - a woman’s legs
gat, heater, iron, piece, rod, roscoe, tickler - a handgun
get a can on, tie a bag on - get drunk
gink - a stupid man
to glim, to hinge - see, take a look
to glom - seize, steal
goozle - throat
gow, hop - heroin, any narcotic
gunsel - an armed criminal, also a young homosexual
Harlem sunset - a fatality with a knife
head fulla bees - crazy
heaters, peepers - eyes
highbinder - a corrupt politician
high pillow - the boss
hotcha - desirable, especially a woman
ing bing - a fit, an outburst
in jigtime - quickly
jingle brained - addled
to jug - to incarcerate
juice dealer - a loan shark
kelly, lid, skimmer - a man’s hat
kick - complaint
the lay - the setup, the arrangement
to lay paper - to pass counterfeit cash or bad checks
left handed - dubious, unlucky
loogan - a hoodlum, especially Irish
lunch hooks - hands
map - face
meat wagon - ambulance
the mop - the final word, the summation of events
mush, yap - mouth
nance - an effeminate man
to nick - take money from
nippers - handcuffs
on the nut, on my uppers - broke
on the pad - on the take
orphan paper - a bad check
oyster fruit - pearls
palm oil, salve - a bribe
to peach, to squeal, to turn up - inform
pissing on ice - living well
plaster - a tail, also a banknote
poke - wallet, bankroll
pro skirt - a prostitute
rats and mice - dice, craps
rib joint - a brothel
rub joint - a hall with taxi dancers
rug joint - a fancy nightclub
What’s the rumble?- what’s going on?
sawbuck - ten dollars
scatter - a room or hideout, also a speakeasy or club
second-story man - burglar
to send over - betray
to shag – tail, chase
on the shake, to shake - blackmail
shamus - private eye, also a police informer
sheever – a traitor, police informer
slapman - an undercover cop
slewfoot - a cop
to smoke - to kill with a gun
table grade - said of an attractive woman
tag - an arrest warrant
taped - under control, cinched
throw a bop into - have sex with
tip your mitt - show your cards
torpedo - an armed thug, a hit man
under glass - in jail
woo bait - attractive female
wrong gee, wrong number - an untrustworthy person
in a yank - in a rush
yard - $100, sometimes $1000
yegg - thief, safecracker
zazoo - a man, a sharp dresser
Phrases
all aces, or all silk so far - everything’s okay
all wool and a yard wide - first rate
beat down to the ankles - worn out
cut me a huzz - tell me what’s happening
dogshit and razorblades - junk, worthless information
from hell to breakfast - thoroughly, all the way
grab a cloud - raise your hands
the squeeze ain’t worth the juice - not worth the effort
What’s the wire on this guy? - What’s the background, the story?
John Knoerle currently lives in Chicago with his wife, Judie.
Find out more about the books of John Knoerle at www.bluesteelpress.com.
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