Nathan Bailey's Canting Dictionary

[tcward]

I found this online dictionary on a random search this morning:

Canting Dictionary

Canting Dictionary

Dictionary definitions from Nathan Bailey’s Canting Dictionary [thieving slang], 1736:

A Collection of the Canting Words and Terms, both ancient and modern, used by Beggars, Gypsies, Cheats, House-Breakers, Shop-Lifters, Foot-Pads, Highway-Men, &c;

Taken from The Universal Etymological English Dictionary, by N. Bailey, London, 1737, Vol. II, and transcrib’d into XML Most Diligently by Liam Quin.

The random search that brought me there was "supernaculum'.

-Tim

[tcward]

Interesting... I always wondered where the expression "no bones about it" came from!

To Bone

-Tim

[Stargzer]

Here's another:

COTTON
COTTON, They don't cotton; They don't agree well.

As in, "I don't cotton to that." (I don't agree with that.)

Great link, Tim, but not good for productivity if one is prone to exploring.