ben mort
17th–18th century English thieves' cant compound: 'ben' (good) plus 'mort' (woman, from cant slang).
Definitions
17th–18th century English thieves' cant compound: 'ben' (good) plus 'mort' (woman, from cant slang). The word 'mort' itself derives from older gypsy/Romani cant. 'Ben mort' could mean a respectable woman or, in context, a desirable female accomplice in criminal circles.
The pamphleteers warned that even a ben mort could be lured into the rum-pads if poverty pressed hard enough.
Comments
(obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) Good woman.
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Semantically related
- dimber mort71%
Archaic British thieves' cant for an attractive or pretty woman. 'Dimber' meant handsome or pretty in the cant vocabulary of 17th and 18th-century English criminals, while 'mort' was the cant word for a woman. The compound was used admiringly rather than disparagingly, though it belongs entirely to historical criminal slang.
- beneship65%
(obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) Very good; excellent.
- gentry mort64%
(obsolete, UK, thieves) A gentlewoman; a lady.
- dimber mort64%
(archaic, UK, thieves) A pretty girl.