Foyst “we’d foyst in queer, too, fixed so they’d like it” (IV, chap. 6, 110).
Type: Obsolete
Sense: “we would also give the spies outright lies that they wanted to believe.”
Meaning: (verb) to palm something so as to be able to introduce it when required; also to cheat by this method: “to foist in,” to introduce (the flat) surreptitiously (OED).
Froggies (I, chap. 7, 174).
Type: Fictitious
Meaning: “Froggies” are the Civil Guard of Viron, so called because they wear green uniforms.
Fussock (I, chap. 4, 99).
Type: Dialect/Slang
Meaning: a fat, unwieldy woman (OED).
G
Gammon (II, chap. 5, 127).
Type: Cant
Meaning: talk, chatter (OED).
Gas (III, chap. 3, 81).
Type: Slang
Meaning: empty or boastful talk (OED).
Gibbe (I, chap. 1, 24).
Type: Obsolete
Sense: castrate.
Meaning: from gibbed cat: “gibbed” was taken as past participle of an assumed verb “gib,” to geld (OED).
Gleacaiocht (IV, chap. 12, 243).
Type: Flier
Sense: a type of unarmed combat.
Irish: “gymnastics” or a native Irish wrestling known in English as “Collar-and-Elbow.”
Glims (IV, chap. 15, 323).
Type: Standard
Meaning: eyes (OED). See also BIG MY GLIMS.
Goldboy (I, chap. 4, 99).
Type: Slang
Sense: a gold coin, but in this case a card (the monetary unit of Viron).
H
Hacking (I, chap. 13, 324).
Type: Standard
Sense: sword fighting.
Meaning: chopping, hewing, mutilation (OED).
Hang on to (II, chap. 6, 147).
Type: Unknown
Sense: remember.
Hanger (III, chap. 3, 89).
Type: Standard
Meaning: a kind of short sword, originally hung from the belt (OED).
Hog Grubber (IV, chap. 6, 110).
Type: Obsolete
Meaning: a mean or sneaking fellow (OED).
Holy Corrosion (II, chap. 9, 225).
Type: Soldier
Meaning: an exclamation, a mild oath.
Hoof (II, chap. 5, 133).
Type: Standard
Sense: foot (noun).
Hoppies (II, chap. 11, 288).
Type: Fictitious
Meaning: a lame man (OED). Slang or cant term for the Guards, said within the text to be an allusion to frogs (green animals that hop) since the Guards wear green uniforms.
Hornboys “You got yourself a turd bird to make us dimber hornboys, didn’t you?” (II, chap. 3, 70).
Type: Unknown
Sense: Musk supposes that Silk obtained Oreb in imitation of Musk and his birds, in the hope of becoming great friends.
Hornbuss “Hornbuss, you whore!” “Stick it out your skirt, sweetheart, an’ maybe she will” (I, chap. 3, 73; IV, chap. 6, 117). Hornbussing (III, chap. 10, 345).
Type: Unknown
Sense: since “horn” can mean “penis” and “buss” can mean “kiss,” it seems that hornbuss means fellate. But we cannot find hornbuss in any dictionaries, and it is a very interesting use of the word “horn” in light of the name of the narrator for The Book of the Long Sun.
Hotpot “What’s this hotpot’s name, Jugs?” “Simuliid” (II, chap. 5, 133).
Type: Slang
Sense: a politician who is involved in something shady or illegal.
Meaning: (racing slang) a racing horse favored to win (OED).
I
Ice “lay you both on ice” (II, chap. 5, 127).
Type: Unknown
Sense: send you to the morgue or funeral parlor.
Iron “you’re for iron” (IV, chap. 6, 111).
Type: Slang
Sense: “you are going to jail.”
Meaning: “iron doublet” is jail (Prt1).
’Ishsh (IV, chap. 14, 292).
Type: Trivigaunti
Sense: an (airship) elevator.
Arabic: a word meaning “to nest.”
J
Jabber (IV, chap. 6, 112).
Type: Unknown
Sense: a specific type of criminal act (see also RAGS AND TAGS). Perhaps related to the standard word meaning to talk rapidly and indistinctly or unintelligibly (OED).
Jakes (IV, chap. 8, 143).
Type: Standard
Meaning: (standard) a privy (OED).
Jefe (I, chap. 1, 19).
Type: Spanish
Meaning: boss.
Jump “cold up and full of jump” (I, chap. 4, 98); “I don’t think he’s jump for religion” (III, chap. 3, 82).
Sense: energy; enthusiastic/energetic.
K
Karbaj (IV, chap. 2, 56).
Type: Trivigaunti
Arabic: a whip; a scourge; a lash.
Kate (IV, chap. 12, 259).
Type: Cant
Meaning: a master or skeleton key (Prt1).
Ken “knew the ken” (IV, chap. 6, 110).
Type: Cant/Slang
Meaning: (vagabond slang) a house, especially a house where thieves, beggars, or disreputable characters meet or lodge (OED).
KIA (III, chap. 3, 79).
Type: Soldier
Meaning: abbreviation of “Killed In Action.”
Kicks (III, chap. 3, 119).
Type: Slang
Meaning: breeches, trousers (OED).
Kink talk (II, chap. 5, 134).
Type: Unknown
Meaning: as “kink” (US criminal slang) means “a criminal” (OED), “kink talk” would appear to mean “thieves’ cant.”
Knot (IV, chap. 2, 49).
Type: Standard
Sense: gang.
Meaning: a small group, cluster, band, or company of persons (OED).
L
Larger (IV, chap. 6, 111).
Type: Colloquial
Sense: something like “more importantly.”
Meaning: from “large,” an adjective generally used as an adverb for “excessively.” Thus, “dress large,” i.e. showily; “go large,” i.e. noisily; “play large,” i.e. for high stakes.
Lay “I’d lay” (III, chap. 7, 264).
Type: Obsolete
Meaning: wager, bet, stake (OED).
Lay “know the lay” (IV, chap. 6, 111).
Type: Unknown
Sense: understand the situation; read the lay of the land.
Lay
Type: Slang
Sense: a job (especially a criminal job, e.g., a robbery).
Meaning: an underworld trick or plan or means of livelihood (e.g., rigged games of chance) (Prt1). A line or plan of business, occupation, adventure, etc.; a (particular) job (OED).
Examples:
• “a breakin’ lay” (IV, chap. 6, 112): a breaking (in) job (i.e., burglary).
• “queer lay” (III, chap. 8, 286): a dangerous job.
• “queering a lay” (II, chap. 8, 204): ruining a job.
• “setting this lay up” (IV, chap. 14, 301): arranging this job.
• “that’s not the lay” (II, chap. 5, 129): that’s not the plan.
• “that’s your lay” (I, chap. 12, 309): that’s your job.
• “this whole lay would of gone different” (III, chap. 3, 108).
Lily (I, chap. 1, 22).
Type: Cant
Meaning: short for “lily white,” rhyming slang for “right” in the sense of “correct” or “true.”
Lily “Hand you the lily” (I, chap. 10, 261).
Type: Cant
Meaning: tell you the truth.
Lock (II, chap. 5, 128).
Type: Standard
Meaning: a wrestling hold.
Lowre (IV, chap. 6, 110).
T
ype: Slang
Meaning: money (OED).
Lumb “not lumb but lowre” (IV, chap. 6, 110).
Type: Cant
Sense: (of full sentence) not too much, but a significant amount of money.
Meaning: too much (Prt1).
Lush “Lushes til shadeup” (IV, chap. 6, 110).
Type: Slang
Meaning: to drink, indulge in drink (OED).
M
Marhaba (IV, chap. 5, 85).
Type: Trivigaunti
Arabic: hello.
M.O.A.’s difference (II, chap. 9, 234).
Type: Soldier
Sense: a tiny bit.
Meaning: perhaps an abbrieviation of “Minute of Angle,” a measurement of rifle accuracy.
Mort (III, chap. 9, 319).
Type: Cant
Meaning: a girl or woman (OED).
N
Naked “get naked” (II, chap. 8, 206).
Type: Unknown
Sense: “keep talking,” quit stalling.
Nanny nipper (III, chap. 5, 182).
Type: Unknown
Sense: unknown. “Nanny” can mean a whore; “nipper” can mean a thief, especially a cutpurse or a pickpocket. Yet it does not seem to designate a thief who
targets prostitutes, so the “nanny” might instead be rhyming slang for coat (nanny goat = coat), hence perhaps a type of thief who cuts into coats.
Napped (I, chap. 4, 99).
Type: Slang/Cant
Meaning: caught, from “nap,” to seize, catch, or lay hold of (a person or thing); to take into custody (OED).
Nicker (IV, chap. 6, 111).
Type: Unknown
Sense: to laugh (IV, chap. 6, 112), perhaps from snicker.
Nose “go the nose” (I, chap. 3, 80).
Type: Cant
Meaning: (criminal slang) to turn state’s evidence (OED).
P
Padken Spider says of Potto, “he took me in when I didn’t have two bits or a padken” (IV, chap. 6, 115).
Type: Unknown
Sense: some very basic item, akin to “a pot to piss in.”
Pip of the scavy (I, chap. 4, 99).
Type: Unknown
Sense: “a bit of the knowledge required.”
Meaning: “pip” refers to each spot on playing cards, dice or dominoes; “scavy” means “savvy.”
Plate to me, bait to you (II, chap. 5, 134).
Type: Unknown
Sense: plate as “stolen goods,” bait as “material to lure (Dr. Crane);” thus, “I’ll get the booty I want, and you’ll get the information you want, so we’ll both profit from this venture.”
Note: “Bait” can also mean “food,” hence “I’ll get the plate, you get the food on it”: we’ll both profit. Of course there is also the meaning of material to lure, which is equally valid in the context here, thus a deliberate play on words by Auk.
Plucked (I, chap. 11, 279).
Type: Unknown
Sense: “drew a knife” or “escaped the grasp of ambushers.”
Plucks (III, chap. 2, 64).
Type: Unknown
Sense: used like “packs (a gun)” here.
Plum “plum night” (I, chap. 4, 99).
Type: Standard
Meaning: a “good thing”; one of the best or choicest things among situations or appointments (OED).
Prog (IV, chap. 12, 250).
Type: Cant
Meaning: food (OED).
Plonk (IV, chap. 6, 113).
Type: Colloquial
Meaning: (Australian term) cheap wine, or wine of poor quality (OED).
Pure (I, chap. 9, 229).
Type: Fictitious
Sense: the name of a recreational drug in the text.
Meaning: Pure (adjective) excellent, splendid, very pleasant (Prt2).
Pure keg “give me the pure keg sprat” (III, chap. 3, 115; 123).
Type: Unknown
Sense: the unadulterated, authentic stuff; from undiluted beer, straight from the keg?
Putt (II, chap. 3, 69); Putts (I, chap. 1, 21).
Type: Slang
Meaning: Putz (Yiddish) the penis; a fool, a simpleton; an objectionable person (OED).
Q
Queer (II, chap. 5, 133).
Type: Cant
Sense: to ruin, to betray
Meaning: (verb) to cheat (Prt1).
Queer “foyst in queer” (IV, chap. 6, 110). See FOYST.
Queer lay (III, chap. 11, 286).
Type: Cant
Meaning: a job gone wrong.
Queering a lay (II, chap. 8, 204).
Type: Cant
Meaning: spoiling a job.
Quill “that’s the pure quill” (IV, chap. 12, 246).
Type: Unknown
Sense: the best.
Quits “we’re quits” (I, chap. 1, 24).
Type: Standard
Sense: “we’re even,” not “we’re done as friends.”
Meaning: even or equal (with another) by means of repayment or retaliation.
R
Rags and tags (IV, chap. 6, 112).
Type: Unknown
Sense: “a specific type of crime.” (See also “JABBER”).
Ramped (IV, chap. 6, 110).
Type: Unknown
Sense: raped (IV, chap. 6, 111).
Red Ribbon (III, chap. 3, 85).
Type: Fictitious
Meaning: a brand name of a brandy in Viron.
Rollin’ him over to Hoppy (I, chap. 2, 38).
Type: Unknown
Sense: turning him in to the Guards.
Row (III, chap. 3, 113).
Type: Slang
Meaning: a violent disturbance or commotion; a noisy dispute or quarrel (OED).
Rum (II, chap. 3, 133).
Type: Cant
Meaning: good, fine, excellent; great (OED).
Rust (I, chap. 3, 73).
Type: Fictitious
Meaning: a recreational drug of Viron.
Rust bucket (I, chap. 10, 261).
Type: Fictitious
Meaning: within the text, a person addicted to the drug called rust.
S
Scavy (I, chap. 4, 99).
Type: Cant
Meaning: alternate form of “savvy,” meaning “common sense, good sense, gumption” (Prt2).
Scrape out (I, chap. 3, 84).
Type: Slang
Meaning: from “scrape the kettle,” that is, “to go to confession, lower middle class and proletarian” (Prt2), applied here with Vironese shriving taking the place of Catholic confession.
Scut (II, chap. 4, 100).
Type: Standard
Meaning: a rabbit’s tail.
Send sprats to Scylla (II, chap. 5, 133).
Type: Fictitious
Meaning: sacrifice children to Scylla.
Shag (I, chap. 7, 182).
Type: Slang
Meaning: (transitive and intransitive) to copulate (with) (OED). A general purpose expletive. Examples:
• Shag up (III, chap. 10, 338)—fuck up.
• Shaggy ~ (I, chap. 3, 87)—fucking ~.
Sharp (II, chap. 5, 123).
Type: Unknown
Sense: sharp now is “pay attention.”
Shave (I, chap. 3, 80); “I was shaving you” (III, chap. 7, 264).
Type: Standard
Sense: con job; counterfeit.
Meaning: an act of swindling or extortion (OED).
Shook “what shook last night” (II, chap. 5, 123).
Type: Unknown
Sense: happened.
Slap on (IV, chap. 6, 110).
Type: Unknown
Sense: “right on target.”
Smoke up (II, chap. 5, 133).
Type: Unknown
Sense: “fabricate” or “dig up.”
Smokin’ or liftin’ seals (IV, chap. 6, 112).
Type: Unknown
Sense: breaking and reforging wax seals (as Incus does with Hy’s
sealed letter to Silk) or perhaps even breaking seals of Pas, the first step to looting cards and embryos from landers.
Snaffle (II, chap. 3, 76).
Type: Colloquial
Sense: receive, catch.
Meaning: (verb) to steal (Prt1).
Sneeze it (I, chap. 4, 95).
Type: Cant
Meaning: to kidnap; to seize and hold (Dictionary of American Slang).
Snoodge (I, chap. 4, 99).
Type: Cant
Meaning: (verb) snooze, sleep (Prt1).
Sojer (III, chap. 3, 103).
Type: Dialect/Colloquial
Meaning: “soldier.”
Solve (I, chap. 3, 82).
Type: Unknown
Sense: to break into, burgle, rob.
Spit oil “and if Viron says spit oil, they better spit far” (II, chap. 9, 225); (III, chap. 3, 105).
Type: Soldier
Sense: do the impossible, or at least the extremely difficult.
Sprats (I, chap. 2, 37).
Type: Standard
Sense: children.
Meaning: a sprat is a type of small sea-fish. The word is applied to persons, usually as a term of contempt (OED).
Stamp (IV, chap. 6, 111).
Type: Cant
Sense: to leave in a huff.
Meaning: (verb) to walk much, tramp long distances or habitually. (Prt1)
Stir it (IV, chap. 2, 49).
Type: Unknown
Sense: move.
Stood (II, chap. 5, 129).
Type: Slang
Meaning: Stand (verb) to payout as one’s share (Prt1).
Sweatin’ ken (III, chap. 3, 108).
Type: Unknown
Sense: possibly a money shaving shop (combining “sweating” from sense of “wash,” which see; and “ken” as house of thieves); but more likely a pawn shop, from sweat meaning “to pawn” (Prt2).
Swop “He had to lose swop, or I’d been shy more’n I had” (IV, chap. 6, 111).
Type: Slang/Colloquial
Meaning: an exchange—same as “swap.”
T
Tall asses (III, chap. 3, 113).
Type: Fictitious
Meaning: within the text a slang term for “taluses,” the chemical guards who are like robotic tanks.
Tick Talk
Here is a compendium of everything the catachrest Tick says.
Silk meets Tick while looking for a sacrifice in honor of his enlightenment. The animal seller suggests Tick as particularly appropriate because he’s the nearest thing to a child. The seller urges the animal to speak: “Shop, say shop” he says, getting increasingly angry. We don’t learn until book IV that “shop” means “stop.” The man has been tormenting Tick, and he’s responded by begging the seller to stop.