slum n.3
1. (UK Und.) a bundle of banknotes.
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Vocabulum. |
2. a dollar.
 | Hooley’s Opera House Songster 32: ‘So I’ll go and jump a bounty, / And have a little spree.’ / Joe went and put his name down, / And got three hundred ‘slums’, / And then skedaddled and ran away. |
3. (also slump) cheap or counterfeit jewellery, typically that sold illegally by street vendors.
| How I Became a Detective 88: ‘Slum’ is bad jewelry. | |
| Vocab. Criminal Sl. 77: slum [...] jewelry of any description, but lately reduced in scope of meaning to include only the less valuable kinds of jewelry [...] ‘He’s got a bale of slum for sloughings.’. | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Truth (Melbourne) 10 Jan. 10/5: He do think they’re chunks of slum, / For the gems was in the rough. | |
| Keys to Crookdom 418: Slum. Plated jewelry. | |
| ‘Broadway Financier’ in Runyon on Broadway (1954) 208: The jewellery Silk brings around is nothing much but slum. | |
| ‘Ten Carats of Lead’ in Black Mask Stories (2010) 223/2: They haven’t taken any of [...] the cheap ‘slum’ that’s used to catch the eye of the passerby. | |
| et al. DAUL 198/2: Slum. [...] 3. Jewelry, in general; imitation jewelry. | |
| Pimp 110: Some louse put the heist on your ‘slum’. | |
| Queens’ Vernacular 132: junk jewelry [...] slum (fr carnival sl = kewpie dolls, trinkets given as prizes in concession stands). | |
| Central Sl. 48: slump A piece of cheap jewelry [...] ‘Those rings ain’t real, man, they’re hook, they’re slump.’. | |
| Crime Fighter 60: [S]he answered the door wearing a nightgown and another three diamonds, then asked why he’d bother locking her up for ‘slum’ When he told her each ring was worth about $30,000, she gasped. |
4. stolen jewellery.
| Prison Community (1940) 335/2: slum, n. Plunder, loot. | |
| Rough Stuff 61: I asked him where I could drop some slum (sell stolen jewelry). |
5. the virtually worthless prizes offered at fairs, carnivals etc.
| Dead Ringer 121: Twenty gross of the outfits of slum he pitches in the side-show, and some other magic stuff. | |
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Sword-Swallower 63: Slum means prizes—kewpie dolls, [...] plaster statues and stuff. | |
| ‘Carnie Talk’ in AS XXVIII:2 118: slum, n. Carnival goods sold or given as prizes in connection with a game. | |
| Complete Guide to Gambling. | |
| ‘Carny Lingo’ in http://goodmagic.com 🌐 Slum — Ultra-cheap prizes, like a single toy soldier, bought in bulk. |
6. attrib. use of sense 5.
| ‘Pitchman’s Cant’ in AS XVII:1 Pt 2 Apr. 93/1: slum layout. A stand where small prizes are awarded in the game of chance. The big prizes which are a part of the frame-up are not given away. | |
| ‘I’ll Gyp You Every Time’ in Men of the Und. 180: Slum skillo is a game which may be operated almost the same as the wheels. |
In compounds
(UK Und.) one who sells cheap jewellery or clothing, pretending to the gullible buyer that it is stolen property; thus slum hustle, the trick itself.
| et al. DAUL 198/2: Slum-hustler. One who traffics in cheap or imitation jewelry. | |
| Parole Chief 76: The suit wasn’t stolen and the salesman was a ‘slum hustler,’ a type of confidence man. [Ibid.] 227: It’s a forgery [...] I sold it to him in a Slum Hustle. | |
| Pimp 275: I contacted a [...] slum hustler down on his luck. | |
| Pimp’s Rap 203: I’m Fish Rusconi the Macaroni. I’m a slum hustler (sells fake gold), I’m the man. |
(US Und.) selling fake jewellery.
| Sister of the Road (1975) 307: Slum hustling — selling fake jewelry. |
(US Und.) a jewellery store.
| How I Became a Detective 95: Slum joint – Jewelry store. | |
| Amer. Lang. (4th edn) 579: In the East a jewelry-store is a slum-joint, whereas in the West it is an ice-house. | |
| Hey, Sucker 97: slum joint ... concession featuring inexpensive merchandise. | |
| Criminal Sl. (rev. edn). | |
| et al. DAUL 198/2: Slum-joint. A jewelry store. |
(US Und.) one who sells cheap or imitation jewellery as its expensive equivalent.
| et al. DAUL 199/1: Slum-worker. A specialist in selling cheap jewelry as genuine valuable pieces. |