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Lag’s Lex. 1: actor. A bluffer, a spiv.at actor, n.
Lag’s Lex. 1: actor. A bluffer, a spiv. in Lag’s Lex.at arge, n.
Lag’s Lex. 177: red collar. The forerunner of the redband. [...] Today the redband is a common sight in most prisons.at red band (n.) under band, n.2
Lag’s Lex.at bang up, v.2
Lag’s Lex. 10: Briefly, a baron is one who always has plenty of money and/or tobacco.at baron, n.
Lag’s Lex. 15: beggar’s lagging A three months’ sentence of imprisonment.at beggar’s lagging (n.) under beggar, n.
Lag’s Lex. 18: bleat A Petition to the Home Secretary.at bleat, n.
Lag’s Lex. 19: blocks on, to put the. Tightening up of regulations against ‘fiddling’ or lax discipline.at put the blocks on (v.) under block, n.6
Lag’s Lex. 95: ‘He’s got the Book’ [...] (a) he has ‘got’ religion.at get the book (v.) under book, n.
Lag’s Lex. 32: carpy. To be locked in the cell at the end of the day (from carpe diem).at carpy, adj.
Lag’s Lex. 32: carvie. One who ‘carves in’ – one who shares part of a packet of tobacco by subscribing to a common pool. [Ibid.] carving china. Partner in a purchase of tobacco. ‘So-and-so is all right; he’s been my carving china (or carvie) for a long time.’ This is a strong recommendation and signifies trustworthiness.at carvie, n.
Lag’s Lex.at cased, adj.1
Lag’s Lex.at caser, n.2
Lag’s Lex. 39: ‘Cell task.’ An esoteric joke, current in all prisons, is to refer to any pin-up girl or to any female (and, regrettably, to certain males) with such a remark as ‘Blimey, I couldn’t arf use ’er for a cell task.’.at cell task (n.) under cell, n.
Lag’s Lex. 60: depth-charge. Prison ‘duff’ [...] Anything heavy or stodgy, such as dumplings.at depth charge, n.
Lag’s Lex. 44: chop, to. To hang. Probably dates from the days of the executioner’s axe.at chop, v.2
Lag’s Lex. 45: chubb, to. To lock. to chubb a man in is to lock him in. ‘Unchubb’ = unlock.at chubb (up), v.
Lag’s Lex. 48: cob. The regulation prison ‘loaf’ of about 8 oz. weight. ‘A cob and butter’ = a prison loaf and a margarine ration. Together these commodities are worth anything from one to three ‘roll-ups’ in the prisoners’ market.at cob, n.3
Lag’s Lex. 49: ‘cobitis.’ Too much of any one thing, particularly food, i.e., ‘cob’, day after day. Loss of appetite through monotony of food.at cobitis, n.
Lag’s Lex. 51: convictitis. One of several ‘prison diseases’. A prison officer after many years of service is spoken of as suffering from ‘convictitis’ when his nerve goes and he begins to imagine that every convict he sees is about to attack him.at convictitis, n.
Lag’s Lexicon 53: A ‘cow’ is one pound sterling. ‘Cow and calf’ is, therefore, thirty shillings.at cow, n.1
Lag’s Lex. 53: crackle. Bank-notes. Five pounds and upwards.at crackle, n.
Lag’s Lex. 56: darry. Look. ‘Let’s have a darry at your reader’ = let me have a look at your book.at darry, n.
Lag’s Lex. 97: gravy, dishing out the. During Quarter Sessions or Assizes, when a judge is giving heavy sentences, he is spoken of as ‘dishing out the gravy (or porridge)’. Thus, ‘Cor, he ain’ arf dishin’ aht the porridge.’ Meaning that, to the speaker, he appears to be giving heavy and excessive sentences to all who appear before him.at dish out the gravy (v.) under dish (out), v.
Lag’s Lex. 72: ease it. Let up; go easy. In the case of ‘fiddling’ getting too dangerous, it is given as the advice to lie low for a while.at ease it, v.
Lag’s Lex. 49: To ‘get your collar felt (or touched)’ is to be arrested or stopped by the police.at feel someone’s collar (v.) under feel, v.
Lag’s Lex. 86: flue [...] Prison officer. Rhyming slang for ‘screw.’.at flue, n.2
Lag’s Lex. 89: Gabriel [...] Nickname given to the chapel organist.at gabriel, n.
Lag’s Lex. 91: gannet, any glutton [...] The bet may be on how many plates of porridge one ‘gannet’ can put away at a sitting.at gannet, n.
Lag’s Lex. 94: gessein [...] To ‘con’.at gessein, v.
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