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N.Y. World in Gangs of N.Y. 61: Kit said, ‘I’m damned if some of the people that come here oughtn’t to be clubbed [...] I must be damned good looking to have so many fine fellows looking at me.’.at I’ll be damned! (excl.) under damn, v.
N.Y. World in Gangs of N.Y. 61: Kit said, ‘I’m damned if some of the people that come here oughtn’t to be clubbed [...] I must be damned good looking to have so many fine fellows looking at me.’. Cincinnati Enquirer in Gangs of N.Y. (1928) 190: They talk in simpering, dudish tones.at dudish (adj.) under dude, n.1
(con. 1900s) Gangs of N.Y. 337: Great bowls of Tom and Jerry sat on the bar ready for serving.at tom and jerry, n.1
Gangs of N.Y. 187: Thieves, pickpockets, procurers and knockout drop artists.at -artist, sfx
Gangs of N.Y. 53: An old hag known as Shakespeare was cut to pieces by a half-witted bar fly commonly called Frenchy.at bar-fly, n.
(con. 1890s) Gangs of N.Y. 283: Many of the gangsters kept reserve revolvers and blackjacks, which they called Bessies, in cigar and stationery stores throughout their districts.at bessie, n.
Gangs of N.Y. 10: 270 saloons, and several times that number of blind tigers, dance halls, houses of prostitution.at blind tiger, n.
(con. 1910?) Gangs of N.Y. 263: ‘An’ why,’ demanded Kid Jigger, ‘do I give youse half my stuss graft?’ ‘Because,’ said Spanish, ‘if youse don’t I’ll bump youse off an’ take it all.’.at bump (off), v.
Gangs of N.Y. 197: In later years the term banco [...] degenerated into bunco, and was applied indiscriminately to every type of swindler; but originally it referred only to the operator of banco, an adaptation of the old English gambling pastime of eight dice cloth. Banco was introduced into the United States by a noted sharper who played it with great success in the western gold fields, and brought it into New York about 1860 [...] The swindle sounds a bit silly to our modern ears, but it was much in vogue for years throughout the United States and many of the banco men amassed fortunes.at bunco, n.
(con. 1912) Gangs of N.Y. 353: The poor kid’s all busted up over the way she treated you, Patsy.at busted, adj.1
(con. 1840s) Gangs of N.Y. 33: Syksey, who is said to have coined the phrase ‘hold de butt,’ an impressive plea for the remains of a dead cigar.at butt, n.1
(con. mid-19C) Gangs of N.Y. 200: Knock-out drops were also used with great success by the cadets and procurers [...] Many of the former were organized into associations, and maintained club rooms.at cadet, n.
(con. late 1890s) Gangs of N.Y. 259: Says Dinny, ‘Here’s me only chance / To gain meself a name; / I’ll clean up the Hudson Dusters, / And reach the hall of fame’.at clean up, v.
Gangs of N.Y. 323: And lowest of all were the ice cream eaters, who chewed the crystals of cocaine, morphine, or heroin.at ice-cream, n.
Gangs of N.Y. 54: Bowe had three brothers, Jack, Jim and Bill, all of whom were notorious shooters, cutters, and thieves.at cutter, n.2
Gangs of N.Y. 47: The Block contained the famous dive kept by a giant Negro woman known variously as Big Sue and the Turtle.at dive, n.2
(con. mid-19C) Gangs of N.Y. 240: A gang of notorious little dock rats.at dock rat (n.) under dock, n.2
(con. 1890s–1900s) Gangs of N.Y. 261: A dropper was a thief who dropped a wallet filled with bad money at the heels of a victim and then pretended to find it. Pleading that he was in a great hurry, the thief induced the sucker to purchase the wallet with the avowed intention of finding the rightful owner.at gold-dropper, n.
Gangs of N.Y. 303: Chinatown laughed at him, for he was a dude. He had cut his hair and wore white man’s clothing.at dude, n.1
Gangs of N.Y. 213: Listening eagerly to the clink of the double eagles which he kept in great canvas bags.at eagle, n.2
Gangs of N.Y. 188: A writer for the Cincinnati Enquirer, who went slumming, or as it was then called, elephant hunting, among the dives of New York in the early eighties.at see the elephant (v.) under elephant, n.
Gangs of N.Y. 323: He was a camphor fiend and a cocaine addict.at fiend, n.
(con. 1911) Gangs of N.Y. 361: A distinct class of men arose [...] earning high wages as strike breakers. They were called finks.at fink, n.
(con. 1903) Gangs of N.Y. 285: As Monk expressed it, ‘We’ll wipe up de earth wit’ youse guys.’.at wipe the floor (with), v.
(con. 1890s) Gangs of N.Y. 275: ‘I like de kits and boids,’ Eastman used to say. ‘I’ll beat up any guy dat gets gay wit’ a kit or a boid in my neck of de woods.’.at get gay (with) (v.) under gay, adj.
(con. 1878) Gangs of N.Y. 219: Stewart’s body had scarcely been lowered into the grave before rumors were afloat that ghouls planned to steal the corpse and hold it for ransom.at ghoul, n.
Gangs of N.Y. 63: The thugs who infested the Fourth Ward and swarmed each night into its dives and gin-mills.at gin-mill, n.
(con. 1890s) Gangs of N.Y. 276: ‘I only give her a little poke,’ he exclaimed. ‘Just enough to put a shanty on her glimmer. But I always takes off me knucks first.’.at glimmer, n.
Gangs of N.Y. 194: The gold brick game, perhaps the most celebrated of all swindles.at goldbrick, n.
(ref. to mid-late 19C) Gangs of N.Y. 193: They also offered excellent business opportunities to the gangs of banco, confidence, and green goods men, for this was the period [i.e. c.1870] when country-men actually bought gold bricks and counterfeit money. [Ibid.] 194: The green goods swindle, which was also called the sawdust game.at green goods, n.
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