A piece of old London thieves' cant meaning 'look out' or 'beware' — part of the coded vocabulary that criminals and street hustlers used to tip each other off about danger, typically the approach of police or other threats. Like much Victorian-era thieves' slang, it borrowed place names and ordinary words and repurposed them as warning signals. Today it reads as a historical curiosity, a window into the rich underground argot of 19th-century London.
One word of blackfriars from the lookout sent the whole crew scattering into the alleyways.
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(obsolete, UK, thieves) look out; beware.
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
See all Regional & Other slang on Slangora.