Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. none, no; esp. as general phr. of negation, meaning either I have none or No to that; also as n., nothing.

1846		Swell’s Night Guide 47: Nanty coming it on a pall, or wid cracking to queer a pitch. [Ibid.] 71: The slavey donna [...] touted the rum-cull nanty pipe’ums, cos her nibs was rank sweet on the shallow cove.
1850		Man of Pleasure’s Illus. Pocket-book n.p.: ‘Pipe my fams! nanty bano quester!’.
1855		Yokel’s Preceptor 30: Nanty, Without.
1861		(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor III 208/1: ‘Is it good?’ If it is, I say, ‘Say.’ That is, – Yes. If not, I say ‘Nanti.’.
1864		Western Dly Press 24 Oct. 4/3: Such expressions as these—‘fake the cly,’ ‘rumbo cully,’ ‘nante denali,’ ‘varda my nibs,’ &c, have some means got out of their proper channel, and have been appropriated by third-rate actors.
1869		Australasian (Melbourne) 3 July 8/5: ‘Give us some tobacco, Joe.’ ‘Nanti fogare,’ says the other, and they go off together.
1870		Hotten Sl. Dict.
1879		London Life 5 July 3/2: That's Nantipoloni, the King of the Acrobats, in his trap.
1884		Sporting Times 8 Nov. 2/3: With an Hebraic Government in power he would be made a baronet, with the title of Sir Noses Nanti-poloney.
1893		P.H. Emerson Signor Lippo 95: I get my kip for nenti here for helping old Blower tidy up.
1898		Binstead & Wells Pink ’Un and Pelican 20: The Manchester Lothario had got twenty pounds on Barcaldine with the ‘Nanty Poloney Ironclad Firm’.
1909		J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era 180/2: Nanty (Italian organ-grinders’). Nothing-corruption of niente. ‘’E’s a nanty cove.’.
1962		R. Hauser Homosexual Society Appendix 3, 167: Nanti, no.
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 140: nanti (Brit gay sl, fr Parlyaree, // It nienti = nothing) a negation.
1982		Maledicta VI:1+2 (Summer/Winter) 139: Parlyaree in homosexual use […] gives us nanti (no).
1999		M. Coward in Verbatim 24:2 n.p.: If something is naff, you would want to put the mockers on it. ‘Nante that!’ you might cry, nante meaning either ‘cancel’ or ‘desist from’, or simply ‘nothing’, depending on context.
2003		Guardian 14 Jul. 🌐 Nanti: none or nothing. Eg, Nanti dinarly: no money. Nanti worster: no worse. Nanti pots in the cupboard: no teeth.
2010		W. Ings ‘Trolling the Beat to Working the Soob’ in Int’l Jrnl Lexicog. 23:1 59: Cant contributed words to the argot of the male prostitute, including omee (man) and nantee (not/nothing).
2012		W. Keyser ‘Carny Lingo’ in http://goodmagic.com 🌐 Nanty — Nothing. (Compare the British circus use).
2019		P. Baker Fabulosa 295/2: nanti, nantee, nanty, nunty, nuntee a general negator that can mean no, none, don’t or nothing [...] nanti dinarly no money [...] nanti polari, nanty panarly don’t speak, nanti pots in the cupboard no teeth, nanti that leave it alone, forget about it.
2023		R. Milward Man-Eating Typewriter 5: I want nanti dinarli for my liver, nanti advance, nix royalties, no money for this venture.

2. used adj. impoverished, out of funds.

1897

J. McNicoll [perf. Marie Lloyd] And she lisped when she said, ‘Yes!’ 🎵 When she left the poor boy ‘nanty,’ / She said she’d to meet her aunty.