Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(Aus.) masturbation.

1996

(con. 1964-65) B. Thorpe Sex and Thugs and Rock ’n’ Roll 312: The cabbie then tore off [...] to practise the five-finger boogie.

(orig. Aus./N.Z./US) the act and proceeds of shoplifting, stealing.

[1552		G. Walker Detection of Vyle and Detestable Use of Dice Play 39: Then lead they the cousin to [...] the bear baiting at Paris garden, or some other place of throng, where, by five fingered figg boy [...] picked shall be his purse].
1865		Empire (Sydney) 24 Apr. 8/5: [He] procured some $40 or £50 worth of goods, including a wedding ring, from an industrious storekeeper [...] and, asking for a few matches, rode away with his companion ‘Five-fingured Jack’.
1966		J.M. Brewer in Dundes Mother Wit (1973) 241/2: Five-finger discount (stealing) pays off.
1979		D. Gram Foxes (1980) 42: ‘Loser got it for me.’ ‘Five-finger discount, oh yeah!’.
1982		N. Keesing Lily on the Dustbin 38: To shoplift is to get [...] a five-finger discount.
1985		‘Jennifer Blowdryer’ Modern English 25: kipe (v): A Brit word for shoplift, five finger discount.
1992		K. Lette Llama Parlour 16: We didn’t use the term ‘stealing’ in my house. Anything shoplifted was simply called a ‘five-finger discount’.
1998		Source Oct. 178: A snatching motion that suggests the five-finger discount.
1999		Roger’s Profanisaurus 3 in Viz 98 Oct. 13: five-finger discountn. A 100% discount given on any goods in a shop achieved by half-inching them rather than offering payment. Much taken advantage of by second rate TV celebrities.
2002		Thirstin Howl III ‘John They’re Stealing’ 🎵 Five-finger discounts, I steal the mannequins / Window displays and Chinese stand wig mounts.
2012		(con. 1943) G.S. Manson Coorparoo Blues [ebook] ‘[Y]ou don’t go knockin’ off some joker over a bit of the five-finger discount’.

1. (Aus. und.) the fingers in the context of pick-pocketing.

1889

Dead Bird (Sydney) 16 Nov. 4/4: I got my hand, accidentally, into a old joker's kick, but ’e had nothing [...] and a nother bloke got ’is five I finger exercises on to me, which was dry hash, as [...] I’d left my I staff at ’ome.

2. masturbation.

1997

(con. 1960s) A. Frewin London Blues 68: He also says they [i.e. pornographic books] are for blokes who like dating handkerchiefs and practising five-finger exercises.

the hand, as used for masturbation.

1971–2		C. Shafer ‘Catheads [...] and Cho-Cho Sticks’ in Abernethy Bounty of Texas (1990) 204: five-finger Mary, n. – masturbation.
1972		(ref. to late 1960s) B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 116: The masturbator’s best girl friend – his hand: the thumb is the mother to the four fingers. [...] five-fingered Annie (late ’60s).
1977		L. Heinemann Close Quarters (1987) 191: I had fucked Claymore Face, when the ache and boredom got to be too much; it was either Claymore Face or Five-Fingered Mary.
1993		(con. 1969) N.L. Russell Suicide Charlie 128: It was off to the ammo bunker for a visit with Five-fingered Mary.
2006		P. McCorduck Edge of Chaos 🌐 At that time he has sunk his cock into exactly two pussies, because he doesn’t count dry-humping, blowjobs, handjobs, or five-fingered-mary.

(US) a gesture of derision, placing the thumb on the tip of the nose and fanning out and wriggling the four fingers.

1910		J.W. Ganzhorn I’ve Killed Men 124: When I got it in my hands, the seagoing cowboy gave him a five-fingered salute, went over the side and waved farewell to the Navy.
1948		Mount Pleasant (IA) News 4 Sept. 4/3: [photo caption]: A five-fingered salute and Bronx cheers are directed at Rev. Lowell N. Cantrell, [...] who was arrested and found not guilty of ‘sauntering and loitering’ as he picketed Boston armory, draft registration headquarters.
1950		W. Henry No Survivors (1996) 60: I threw him a five-fingered salute, being satisfied to see him take it and go white in the face.
2005		J. Gross Lives of Rachel 317: But neither the five-fingered salute to the heavens nor the rapid drawing of the cross in the murky air had the slightest effect on the crowd.

masturbation; possibility that cite 1856 refers to a prostitute who offers masturbation as part of her ‘menu’.

1856		Life in Boston & N.Y. (Boston, MA) 23 Aug. n.p.: Anthony — says he has quit visiting the ‘five-fingered’ widow.’ Is that so [...] Did you send to Mobile for that bigger, whiter pocket-handkerchief?
1954		C. Himes Third Generation (1956) 190: ‘How’d you make out,’ Harvard asked [...] ‘Visit with the widow?’ — ‘Old widow five fingers’, Charles suplemented, knowingly.
1971		(con. WWII) B. Aldiss Soldier Erect 43: Stick to the old five-fingered widow and you won’t go far wrong [...] The five-fingered widow was my own constant companion. Never a day went by but a marriage was arranged.
1975		C. Allen Plain Tales from Raj 159: Many turned, as a last resort, to the ‘five-fingered widow’.
1989		(con. 1940s) in P. Fussell Wartime 110: Such surely had frequent recourse to ‘the old five-fingered widow,’ as one of the NCOs [...] puts it.
1999		C. Curtis ‘Mitosis’ 🌐 Where’d you be without us females? Playing with the five-fingered widow wouldn’t ya?
2004		posting at www.the-scream.co.uk 30 Apr. 🌐 An ugly old broiler is still a lot more pleasure than a collection of Porn and the five fingered widow.

(Aus.) a punch.

1975		David Bowie in Sun. Times Mag. July at members.ol.com.au 🌐 San Francisco has more uptight bigots than anywhere else in the world. You’ve only got to say ‘Frisco’ to get a five finger sandwich.
1999		G. Seal Lingo 119: More terms concerned with the pugilistic include [...] a five-finger sandwich.

see five-knuckle shuffle n.

(N.Z.) to shoplift.

1990

G. Preston Ruby and Rata [film script] I had to use my five-fingered chequebook [DNZE].