Vocabulum: Or, The Rogue's Lexicon

by George W. Matsell

As New York City's Chief of Police and an owner of the National Police Gazette , Matsell [1811-1877] had an abiding interest in
criminal speechways. Although Matsell compiled this dictionary for his colleagues in law enforcement, he recognized its value to the linguist. As he notes in the preface, criminal terms were beginning to enter general usage and appeared regularly in newspapers, court reports and other publications. Matsell's compilation includes such entries as "acorn" (a gallows), "hemp the flat" (choke a fool), "rumbo" (a prison) and "tyburn blossom" (a young thief). The appendix contains samples of criminal speech and writing (with translations) and the vocabularies of gamblers, billiard players, pugilists and stock brokers. Published just before the Civil War, this dictionary offers a fascinating glimpse into the American underworld in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Genres: Nonfiction, Crime, Reference, History, Linguistics

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1859

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing find and would make a great gift for anybody with a love for the language of the underclasses or law enforcement...or crime! So many great ethnic phrases and terms here. This is an authentic joy to peruse. I got the 1977 edition, which is tall and white, rather than the 2008 edition, which may be better suited for a bookcase. I think that old one was only $13 new!

[Cotton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just an index of words used by criminals back when. Interesting and a lot of fun, although I have to say some of these are pretty goofy.