Thieves’ Cant: The Secret Language Used By Criminals For Centuries

What if a secret society of rogues operated in plain sight, using code words to plot elaborate felonies and hoaxes? From the 16th to 19th centuries, Europeans believed exactly that. According to multiple authors, rogues spoke a secret dialect called thieves' cant, which even the police couldn't crack. Honest folks needed to learn the language quickly so they could avoid "priggers" and "badgers" - known in standard English as thieves and villains.

#Slang #ThievesCant #WeirdHistory

[Dan_Ben_Michael]

I would like to hear about trade talk such as “butcher’s talk” that used to be quite prevalent in butcher shops in Australia. They would talk backwards in order to speak freely in front of customers.

[okay]

Marriage music is slang for children crying is the funniest thing I've heard all week.

[modelermark]

In Michael Creighton's 1975 novel, "The Great Train Robbery, " (set in 1885, it is a fictionalized account of the theft of a gold shipment in transit, ) the main characters used plenty of "Thieves' Cant" throughout the dialogue, adding an extra touch of period realism. I would highly recommend this novel to anyone who found this video interesting.

Thanks for posting this!

[HistoryOfRevolutions]

"The criminal is the creative artist; the detective only the critic"

- G.K. Chesterton

[-POISON-]

Thank you. Now I need to grab "The Rogue's Lexicon" for my D&D campaign.

[Verticalblinds]

Idk if you've done this already but I'd love to hear about folk medicine ingredient names and how they may have inspired some of our ideas about witches. For example in Macbeth.

[Fush]

The language still exist today. Politicians use it all the time.

[NefariousKoel]

Mug: A wealthy or fancy looking person walking about, being an ideal target for a stick-up. Whence came the term "mugger".

[BigGrease]

Seems plausible. Many of these make sense and are similar to how slang is used today. The urban dictionary is a fine resource on modern slang language.

[joanreeseNYCartist]

Weird History is my favorite channel! Thank you

[chrissyknowsitall]

I love this channel!!! I learn so much and the guy telling the story is so funny!! I adore his humor!!🤣🤣❤❤❤❤

[rickkinki]

Every time the narrator said "Thieves' cant, " I thought of The Wizard of Oz.

Tin Man: "Oil can."

Scarecrow: "Oil can what?"

[theconqueringram]

Calling eggs 'cackling farts' made me chuckle.

My Mom: "Hey son, what would you like for breakfast?"
Me: "Bacon and cackling farts!"
My Mom: "You and that damn Weird History YouTube channel."

[scottnotpilgrim]

Welp, you had me at the Assassins Creed screenshot at the beginning

[qwertyuiopst]

I wonder how much of the "Thieve's Cant" was just made up by the authors of the pamphlets or books....

[lillymom]

"LullyPriggers” is my favorite!! And you're right... that would be an awesome name for a punk band!!!

[A_Salty_Fishe]

Ahhh so _this_ is where the Shadowmarks in Skyrim come from

[nyfolkhero]

My favorite channel on YouTube 💙 P.S. this narrator is awesome!!

[jlshel]

Did other countries have a hobo code like in the US? That could be an interesting Depression era topic.

[kramp]

The music this video had was wonderfull and really deepened the video, i loved it and please use it more often. It painted such a great scene