fast one n.
1. (US) a streetwise individual.
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Life in Boston & N.Y. (Boston, MA) 18 May n.p.: Jim B. [...] is accounted a fast one among the b’hoys of our city. |
2. any scheme seen as amoral, corrupt, underhand.
 | implied in slip a fast one (over) | |
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Gilt Kid 64: That was a fast one. | |
| Man with the Golden Arm 10: I give a man a square shake till he tries a fast one. | |
| Getaway in Four Novels (1983) 23: He was afraid Doc had a fast one up his sleeve. | |
| Texas by the Tail (1994) 55: Watch yourself, Mitch, Make that the last fast one of the evening. | |
| (con. 1949) True Confessions (1979) 52: You’re a smooth number, Des, that’s exactly what I told Chet. No fast ones on Des Spellacy. |
3. a lie, a spurious story.
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Drawing Dead [ebook] I threw him a fast one about thinking that [...] in my drunked up state that I may have heaved my phone over his fence. I did it roundabout and awkward. |
4. see quick one n. (2)
In phrases
1. (also spring a fast one, pull a fastie, work..., pull a fast switch/shuffle) to get away with something, usu. a slightly nefarious scheme.
| Dayton Herald (OH) 10 June 23/2: Once in a while you pull a fast one which is really refreshing. | |
| Pleasure Man (1997) Act I: Hey, lay off o’ dat stuff. Where the hell is your card? Tryin’ to pull a fast one around here? | |
| Green Ice (1988) 107: Cherilli had been a little guy, and he’d tried to work a fast one. | |
| (con. 1900s) Behind The Green Lights 91: May worked a fast one on me. | |
| Rough Stuff 88: I had to stay under cover in the yards, because I knew the coppers would know I’d pulled a fast one on them. | |
| Phenomena in Crime 73: Pulling a fast one on a comrade is not a breach of etiquette. | |
| Ball of Fire [film script] Once they let you go, we’ll pull a fastie. | |
| ‘Raw, Medium, and Well Done’ in Blue Ribbon Western June 🌐 He’ll spring a fast one, and then blow. | |
| letter 28 Jan. in Harris (1993) 80: How did Jack get out of the nut-house? He certainly pulled a fast shuffle there. | |
![[NZ]](/static/img/flags/nz.png "New Zealand") | Till Human Voices Wake Us 26: I can stand a chap pulling a fast one on me. | |
| Teen-Age Gangs 154: Sure, Paro got in too deep and then tried to pull a fast switch. | |
| Battle Cry (1964) 132: This sneaky bastard is trying to pull a fast one. | |
| Baron’s Court All Change (2011) 146: Never once had he ever tried to pull any fast ones as far as the Charge was concerned. | |
| Last Exit to Brooklyn 134: That wise punk Wilson tried to pull a fast one and I had to straightenim out. | |
| S.R.O. (1998) 187: Jinny had pulled so many fast ones on so many different people. | |
| Dead Butler Caper 120: It was only by pulling a fast one that I succeeded in escaping from her clutches. | |
| London Embassy 154: That was how Cary seemed to me – as if he was trying to pull a fast one on me. | |
| Spidertown (1994) 70: Be sharp. Can’t have ’um think we pullin’ a fast one. | |
| Skull Session 174: I thought I saw you pull a little fast one. | |
| Guardian 16 Oct. 1: They should think twice before trying to pull a fast one. | |
| More Damned Lies and Statistics 36: People who present information in this way are probably either themselves confused or trying to pull a fast one. | |
| ‘The Long Count’ in Dirty Words [ebook] Whenever he tried to pull a fast one or short-change, he would break out in a sweat. | |
| Empty Wigs (t/s) 392: [D]uckin’, divin’, always survivin’... pulling a fast one... a scam here... an ocean-going yacht there. |
2. to stage a crime, e.g. a hold-up.
| Dames Don’t Care (1960) 109: He reckoned to get over the border one day an’ pull a fast one on the Arizona mail cart. |
3. to make an escape, to run away.
| Conjure-Man Dies 167: Block that door—he’s pullin’ a fast one! |
to take advantage of someone by trickery, to hoodwink.
| [ | | Yorks. Post 6 Sept. 8/6: Bligh [...] slipped a fast one to the boundary for four]. |
| [ | | Brooklyn Dly Eagle (NY) 26 Mar. 8/6: Then ‘Ducky’ [...] tried to slip a fast one straight over, thinking Bergen wasn’t looking, but Billy was wide awake]. |
| Lincoln Star (NE) 10 Oct. 27/1: [cartoon headline] Skinny Slips a Fast One Over on Shrimp Flynn. | |
| in Cosmopolitan Nov. 98/1: He’s trying to put over a fast one! | |
| Gangster Girl 102: We put over a fast one t’night. | |
| Scotsman 15 Nov. 4/6: The railway companies [...] apparently ‘slipped a fast one across’ the Chamber’s predecessors. | |
| Poor Man’s Orange 125: I won’t put a fast one over you. | |
| Stone Mad (1966) 137: The wife slipped him a fast wan a few times and he was taking no chances. | |
| Chicago: City On the Make 67: The swifter-type thief approach their work with the same lofty hope of slipping a fast one over on everyody. | |
| Big Smoke 15: I respect his opinion, but I want to see if he’s slipping over a fast one. | |
| Rose of Tibet 135: The lama has the feeling he has been bowled rather a fast one. | |
| Inside Daisy Clover (1966) 196: She looked at me as if I was trying to put over a fast one. |