Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (also carnifolks) a carnival worker, also attrib [strictly derog.: interviewee of W. Keyser ‘Carny Lingo’ (2008) notes ‘[We] are showmen. Don't call us carnies. Carnies are junky ride jockeys that are here today and gone tomorrow. The difference between a carny and a showman is the difference between chicken shit and chicken salad!’].

1931		Maurer ‘Carnival Cant’ in AS VI:5 330: Carnifolks, n. Persons who engage in the carnival business.
1934		G. & S. Lorimer Stag Line 146: Oh, the Carny’ll make out.
1935		A.J. Pollock Und. Speaks n.p.: Carney, a carnival man.
1946		J.E. Dadswell Hey, Sucker 39: They’re ‘carnies’ at heart.
1949		F. Brown Dead Ringer 21: You carneys don’t like the cops, do you?
1952		C. Hamilton Men of the Und. 176: Most of their rackets are hoary, favorites of carnies for the past two or three centuries.
1969		B. Jackson Thief’s Primer 148: I know he’s a booster or a carny or something like that.
1972		(con. 1930s) N. Algren ‘The Last Carousel’ in Texas Stories (1995) 144: After all, they’re not carnies. [Ibid.] 148: A carnie named Hawks owned the Ferris wheel and the wild-man concession as well.
1975		J. Roe The Same Old Grind 17: ‘Carny trash,’ sneered Fritzi.
1986		L. Heinemann Paco’s Story (1987) 4: Any carny worth his cashbox [...] will tell you that most folks will shell out hard-earned, greenback cash, every time, to see [...] grisly and gruesome carnage.
1996		(con. 1964-65) B. Thorpe Sex and Thugs and Rock ’n’ Roll 14: [A]n announcer spruiked the next girl on, carny style.
1999		L. Gould Shagadelically Speaking 132: The second is carneys, people who work in carnivals.
2001		‘Randy Everhard’ Tattoo of a Naked Lady 5: Carnies got a word for a crooked game operator like me.
2003		Mad mag. Mar. 25: I only ever get to talk to other carnies.
2012		L. Berney Whiplash River [ebook] ‘[T]he carnie riffraff who worked the state-fair midway’.
2012		R. Milward Kimberly’s Capital Punishment (2023) 298: [H]umming a tuneless Celtic carny song.
2013		F. Bill Donnybrook [ebook] Walkup was an ex-carny, had traveled with the county fairs, run the Pick a Ducky, Win a Prize game.
2015		N. Cummins Tales of the Honey Badger [ebook] I was doing the carnies down at Darling Harbour proud.
2015		L. Berney Long & Faraway Gone [ebook] The carny who ran the booth produced a Pac-Man key chain.

2. a carnival (UK: a fair).

1933		B.J. Chipman Hey Rube 193: Carny, carnival.
1949		F. Brown Dead Ringer 35: I’m not crazy about the carney, Ed. Give me the circus any day.
1952		C. Hamilton Men of the Und. 320: Carny, 1. A carnival.
1953		F. Brown Madball (2019) 9: He’d make a point of giving Doc as wide a berth as possible while he was [...] at the carney.
1962		C. Clausen I Love You Honey, But the Season’s Over 139: I was married ten years to a mitt reader on the carnie.
1986		S. King It (1987) 33: Mellon and Hagarty began to move [...] walking away from the Pitch Til U Win and toward the carny’s exit.
1991		(con. 1920s) O.D. Brooks Legs 146: In the spring he’d take off with a carny and wouldn’t come home until late fall.
2001		‘Randy Everhard’ Tattoo of a Naked Lady 113: Like all crooked carnies worth the name, it had a real wild nudie show.
2013		J. Stahl Bad Sex on Speed 126: [She] shouted over the squeal of the Spinning Teacup, the carny din.