Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. of a prostitute, the time spent with one client before taking on a new one, rather than spending a whole night with the same man; the short time allows a single copulation; thus short-time house n., a brothel.

1861		(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor IV 249/2: She [i.e. an ‘accommodation house’ keeper] let her rooms to her customers for eighteen pence for a short time, and three and sixpence for all night.
1908		G.R. Bacchus Pleasure Bound ‘Afloat’ (1969) 125: [of non-commercial intercourse] When jolly beasts like mammoths [...] started in on a quiet short time, it was worth going miles to see.
1916		Joyce Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man 116: Good night, husband! Coming in to have a short time?
1922		Joyce Ulysses 471: I say, Tommy Tittlemouse. Stop that, and begin worse. Have you cash for a short time?
1937		J. Curtis You’re in the Racket, Too 60: He always has a one-night stand, don’t he, not a short time?
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 193/1: Short time. [...] 2. The period of time spent in visiting a prostitute.
1959		F. Norman Fings I i: Well we only did a couple of short times all night. The law was all over the place like flies.
1963		J. Rechy City of Night 183: A man who [...] offers me ‘ten bills for just a few minutes — just a short time’.
1979		J. Morrow Confessions of Proinsias O’Toole 128: ‘O’ has been telling me that the girls do short times in these snugs at night! Imagine!
1983		J. Byrell (con. 1959) Up the Cross 47: ‘Ay, Pansy. Ow much d’ya charge for a short time?’.
1986–7		Maledicta IX 150: The original argot of prostitution includes some words and phrases which have gained wider currency and some which have not […] short time.
1988		(con. WWII) J. Robinson Jack and Jamie Go to War 165: It’s a brothel! A short-time house. Fifty lire for a quick fuck.
1990		S. Morgan Homeboy 160: Short time, sugar?

2. (UK prison) a short sentence, a short part of one’s sentence left to run; thus short-time pains, pre-release nerves [time n. (1)].

1906		E. Hubbard Love, Life and Work 🌐 The old plan of ‘short time,’ allowing two or three months off from every year for good behavior was a move in the right direction.
1931		G. Milburn ‘Convicts’ Jargon’ in AS VI:6 441: short time, n. The period immediately preceding release.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 193/1: Short time. 1. (P) The unexpired portion of a paroled convict’s prison sentence which he must serve when returned to prison for violation of parole, or upon subsequent conviction for a new offense.
1962		J. Blake letter 31 Jan. in Joint (1972) 177: It is a feeling of apprehension familiar to every convict. They call it ‘short-time pains’.
1968		in J.P. Spradley You Owe Yourself a Drunk (1988) 223: I’m getting shaky and anxious because I’m on short time. [...] Short time is hard time and the last few days are the hardest to do.
1971–2		C. Shafer ‘Catheads [...] and Cho-Cho Sticks’ in Abernethy Bounty of Texas (1990) 213: short- time pains, n. – anxiety pains one feels just before being released from prison.

3. in pl., a couple who rent a room for an hour in order to have adulterous sex.

1923

J. Manchon Le Slang.

4. (US prison) one who has a short sentence or whose sentence is nearing its end [time n. (1)].

1994

T. Willocks Green River Rising 208: You think you’re necessary, Short Time?