Chandler uses many expressions in common use today, but also draws from less familiar trade lingo, several decades of American slang and colorful words from previous centuries. Occasionally he seems to coin a phrase of his own, or to give an old phrase new usage. This glossary of expressions used in The Long Goodbye should be helpful to those entering the world of Chandler for the first time, or instructive for those just learning to “put on the tough.”
The Players
Contact man: an intermediary or go-between
Goon: a hired thug
Hack/hackie: a taxi cab driver; also a writer of low quality, especially for low pay
Peanut grifter: a small-time swindler
Piker: a person who does things in a contemptibly small or cheap way; in gambling, a cautious gambler who places small, sure bets and raises small stakes
Shamus (or dick): private detective
Sharpies: cheats or swindlers, especially at cards
The Law
Prowl car boys: beat policemen in police cruisers
Sneezer (or icehouse): jail
The Liquor
French fits: symptoms of drug withdrawal
Had a skinful: usually meaning “drank a lot,” “had too much of”
Hooch: hard liquor, especially bootlegged liquor and moonshine whiskey from unregulated stills
Loaded: drunk
Plastered to the hairline: excessively drunk (“plastered”) to full capacity (“the hairline”)
Rolled: have one’s pockets picked while passed out drunk
Squiffed out: passed out drunk
Stinko: very drunk
Tight: fairly drunk
The Currency
Double sawbuck: a $20 bill (“sawbuck” = $10 bill)
Down-at-heels: destitute
The folding: folding money, i.e. paper money (as opposed to coins), especially in generous amounts
The Talk
Clam juice: uncooperative silence; from “clam up,” refuse to speak
Dropped my nickel: entered the fray; from “drop a nickel in the slot” to play a machine, place a phone call, etc.
Guff: sass, backtalk, nonsense or verbal abuse
Horse laugh: a loud, boisterous laugh
“I’m up to here in the soft babies.”: “I’m surrounded by sentimental weaklings.”
No skin off my teeth: no difficulty for me; no concern of mine
Putting on the tough: putting on a “tough guy” act
The Tools of the Trade
Ammunition: power, influence
Cheaters: reading glasses or bifocals
Gat: any powerful gun, especially the Thompson submachine gun (“Tommy gun”) favored by gangsters of the Prohibition era
Hang one on the chin: throw a punch to the face
Judas window: an aperture in a wall or door used for one-way observation
Plug: a commercial endorsement; also a bullet
Content last updated: April 30, 2008
