The Woman In Blue (Nick O'Brien Case Files)

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The Woman In Blue (Nick O'Brien Case Files) Page 18

by David G. Johnson


  C-note – a hundred dollar bill

  Cabbage – money, cash

  Cathouse – a brothel, a house of prostitution

  Chicago typewriter – a Thompson submachine gun widely used by prohibition era gangsters, also “gat” or “Tommy gun”

  Coming heavy – carrying guns openly, usually Tommy guns, rifles, or larger caliber pistols difficult to conceal.

  Connected – a mafia insider, someone working for and protected by the mafia, or someplace owned and operated by the mafia

  Convincer - a gun, usually a pistol, also “heater”, “rod”, or “roscoe”

  Cookie – a term of endearment, or alternately a catcall toward a female, also “toots”

  Copper – a police officer, usually a uniformed officer, sometimes shortened to “cop”

  Cotton Club – a nightclub owned by gangster and bootlegger Owney Madden. It was a “whites only” club, but featured all-black entertainment including such famous stars as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Lena Horne, and Sammy Davis Jr.

  Crackers – crazy, insane, not exercising good judgment, acting in a peculiar or unusual manner not in keeping with one’s normal demeanor

  Creep – an unsavory person, generally one with inappropriate social mannerisms

  Cup of joe – cup of coffee, java

  Dago - a disparaging slang term for someone of Italian descent, also “Goombah”, “Wop”, “Guinea” or “Guido”

  Dame – a woman, a female

  Dick – detective, derived from the fictional Dick Tracy. Most commonly used as “private dick”, indicating someone holding a private investigator’s license

  Dish – a very attractive female, same as “doll”, “looker” or “tomato”

  Dizzy with a dame – crazy about a woman, madly in love with a particular female

  Doll – a very attractive female, same as “dish”, “looker” or “tomato”

  Donnybrook - an inordinately wild fight or contentious dispute; a brawl; a free-for-all fight

  Double dip – to get paid twice for the same job, usually by two different people interested in paying for the same result, analogous to a “double dip” or two scoops of ice cream on a single cone

  Drilled – shot with a gun, often multiple times with an semi-automatic pistol or machine gun

  Dutch – in trouble, also “in dutch”

  Fairy – slang term for a male homosexual

  Family business – code for mafia-related activities, specifically as it involved the five mafia families in New York

  Fill full of sunlight – shoot someone repeatedly with a gun; also “fill full of holes”, riddle with bullets

  Fin – a five-dollar bill

  Finger – to point the “finger of blame” at, to accuse, to identify as a suspect or perpetrator of a crime

  Fish – a lie, also “fishy”, meaning something untrue or deceptive

  Five-finger-discount – to steal something

  Flapping gums – making small talk or idle chatter

  Flatfoot – a policeman, usually a beat cop, but sometimes can refer to a private detective

  Flophouse – a rooming house where beds were rented out on a daily basis for extremely low rates. During the Great Depression, these were common in neighborhoods where homeless and jobless people gathered. Nightly rates for a bed could be as low as 20 cents

  Foxy – sly or deceptive, tricky

  Galoot – a stupid man, usually someone physically large or strong but mentally deficient

  Gams – legs, particularly legs visible below a dress or skirt on a female

  Gat - a gun, sometimes a pistol but generally used of a Thompson submachine gun, also “Chicago typewriter” or “Tommy gun”, derived from the name of the Civil War “Gatling gun”

  Get the business – to be badly beaten or killed, specifically in a mob-style hit

  Get while the getting is good – to make a getaway while there is a chance, to escape before being arrested

  Gig – a job, usually used concerning entertainers

  Good egg – someone who is pleasant, agreeable or trustworthy

  Goombah - a disparaging slang term for someone of Italian descent, also “Guido”, “Wop”, “Guinea” or “Dago”

  Goon – gangster, mobster, ruffian

  Guido – a disparaging slang term for someone of Italian descent, also “Goombah”, “Wop”, “Guinea” or “Dago”

  Guinea - a disparaging slang term for someone of Italian descent, also “Goombah”, “Wop”, “Guido” or “Dago”

  Gumshoe – detective, usually private, same as “shamus”

  Gunsel – gunman with a tendency toward being a reckless loose cannon, alternately (rare) an insult meaning a young homosexual

  Hatchet-man – hired killer, assassin, also “button-man” or “trigger-man”

  Hat trick – a sports term denoting anything done in a series of three. While this didn’t become popular in America until the 1940’s with hockey, meaning to score three goals in one game, it was originally used in 1858 in regards to a cricket match, and was widely used in Europe. Nick’s time in England and France during the war was where he picked up the phrase, and it is one of the quirks of his vernacular

  Heater – a gun, usually a pistol, also “convincer”, “rod”, or “roscoe”

  Heist - a robbery

  Hooch – alcohol, specifically illegally made alcohol during prohibition

  Hood – or “hoodlum”, a petty gangster, generally a tough working for someone higher up in a gang or criminal organization, a petty thug

  Horn – a telephone, also “blower”

  House sneak – a house detective, generally in a hotel but could be in a department store, a plainclothes private security officer, also “house dick”

  Jacket – a file, particularly a legal file kept by the district attorney’s office or the police department containing the criminal record of a particular individual

  Jake – okay, all right, everything is well

  Jalopy – car, automobile

  Java – coffee, also “cup of joe”

  Jitters – an attack of nervousness

  Joint – a place of business, generally a club or bar but could be a hotel or any other location where people gather

  Keen – good, excellent, also “swell”

  Kike – a disparaging slang term for someone of Jewish descent

  Kiss-off – a rude goodbye, to end a conversation or meeting abruptly

  Kraut – a derogatory term for “German”, particularly used by war veterans of WWI and WWII

  Lead poisoning – to be shot with a gun, generally multiple times and fatally

  Legal eagle – a slang term for a lawyer, generally mildly derogatory

  Lifter - a thief or pickpocket, also “sticky-fingers”

  Looker – a very attractive female, same as “dish”, “doll”, or “tomato”

  Mata Hari - a sly and deceptive woman who used her sensuality to gain the trust of men in order to deceive them. This was taken from the real life spy of the same name who was caught, convicted and executed for spying for the Germans during WWI.

  Mick – a disparaging slang term for someone from Ireland or of Irish descent

  Minsky’s - or “Minsky's Burlesque” refers to the brand of American burlesque presented by the four Minsky brothers between 1912 and 1937 in New York. This brand of burlesque pushed the limits of decency and were the cutting edge beginning of later strip clubs in America

  Mobster – a criminal member of organized crime, specifically the mafia families

  Moll – a gangster’s girlfriend

  Mook – a contemptible person, generally not too bright, a derogatory term similar to “idiot”

  Mug - face

  Near Beer – a lower-alcohol content ale served at a famous New York pub called McSorley’s. Despite it being illegal, McSorley’s kept serving this alcohol throughout prohibition

  Nicked – arrested, also “pinched


  No dice – an unsuccessful result

  Nosy Nell – a neighbor that is an extreme busybody, always watching and obsessed with knowing his/her neighbors’ business

  Number 1 Beer – a bootleg beer produced by gangster, bootlegger and club owner Owney Madden and sold at his night clubs throughout prohibition, including the famous Cotton Club

  Packing heat – carrying a gun, also “strapped” or “walking heavy”

  Panhandling – begging for money on the streets

  Paper hounds – file clerks, office workers in charge of paperwork and filing, also “paper jockeys”

  Paper jockeys – file clerks, office workers in charge of paperwork and filing, also “paper hounds” or “paper monkeys”

  Peepers - eyes

  Pendejo – Spanish for “fool” or “idiot”, a stupid person

  Pinched – arrested, also “nicked”

  Pizzazz – style, energy, the ability to attract attention, generally used to describe a person or a place

  Plug – to shoot with a gun

  Private dick – someone holding a private investigator’s license

  Prohibition – the time period during which the 18th amendment banning the manufacture or sale of alcohol was in effect, i.e. from January 16, 1919 until December 5th, 1933, although a partial relaxation of the act permitting beer and wine sales with an alcohol content of less than 3.2% was passed in March of 1933

  Rod - a gun, usually a pistol, also “convincer”, “heater”, or “roscoe”

  Roscoe - a gun, usually a pistol, also “convincer, “heater”, or “rod”

  Rowhouse – townhouses, a row of houses sharing walls with the neighboring homes in the row

  Rub – or “the rub”, a problem in a particular situation, usually an element which complicates or negates the general state of something

  Sawbuck – a ten-dollar bill

  Schmooze – to suck up to, smooth-talk in an effort to curry favor

  Scratch – money, cash

  Shamus – detective, usually private, same as “gumshoe”

  Skid-row – a street where the lowest income residents gather, alternately meaning being out of a job and homeless as in “on skid-row”

  Skinny – information, particularly the truth about a specific person or incident

  Skirt – a woman, a female

  Snagged – arrested, alternately sometimes used to mean kidnapped

  Snarky – testy or irritable

  Sparkles – jewelry on a female

  Speak-easy – an establishment serving illegal alcohol during prohibition, an underground, private drinking club

  Spic – a disparaging ethnic slur for a person of Spanish, Mexican, or Hispanic descent

  Squid – a Navy sailor

  Sticky-fingers – a thief or pickpocket, also “lifter”

  Stoolie – an informant, particularly one working undercover either providing the police information about criminal organizations or vice versa

  Straight arrow – an honest person, someone who never bends the rules

  Strapped – carrying a gun, also “packing heat” or “walking heavy”

  Swell – good, excellent, also “keen”

  Tickled pink – greatly pleased about something

  Togs – can mean an overcoat, if used in the singular, “tog”, but when used in the plural it is a generic term for a set of clothes

  Tomato – a very attractive female, same as “dish”, “doll” or “looker”

  Tommy gun - a Thompson submachine gun widely used by prohibition era gangsters, also “gat” or “Tommy gun”

  Toots - a term of endearment, or alternately a catcall toward a female, also “cookie”

  Trap – mouth, as in “shut your trap” meaning shut up, or “pop your trap” meaning to speak

  Trigger-man - hired killer, assassin, also “button-man” or “hatchet-man”

  Walking heavy – carrying a gun, also “strapped” or “packing heat”

  West Pointer – a military cadet attending the United States Military Academy at West Point, alternately a West Point graduate

  Wop - a disparaging slang term for someone of Italian descent, also “Goombah”, “Guido”, “Guinea” or “Dago”

  Afterword

  Before I begin with the usual content of the Afterword in my books, i.e. my personal testimony and some things to help others understand the worldview behind the writer, I would like to take a moment with this novel to talk about the protagonist and Catholicism. Many may disagree with my choice of making the detective in my novel a Catholic. Still more may have some deep misunderstandings about Catholicism and what Catholics believe and teach vs. Protestantism. I hope to briefly clear this up and alleviate any concerns about my choices.

  First and foremost, this is a novel of historical fiction. While it is of course a noir novel and a mystery, I would do a great disservice to my readers if I neglected to spend the same amount of time researching and painting a historically accurate setting for the story as I do in worldbuilding my fantasy or science fiction settings. New York City in the 1930’s was as brilliantly complex place as one could imagine. Dystopian writers would be hard-pressed to imagine anything as dark and convoluted as the reality of the Big Apple at the end of prohibition and the middle of the Great Depression.

  To be Irish in 1930s New York was to be Catholic. As soon as I determined to make my protagonist Irish, set in a firmly Irish family, there really was no other choice. Half of my own family is from Irish Catholic roots, and while today I am an ordained Baptist minister, I grew up staunchly Catholic. I probably spent as much time with the priests at the rectory as I did at home. And before anyone jumps to any stereotypical conclusions, it was a wonderful time where absolutely nothing untoward happened at all. Father Conrad Kimbrough was like a grandfather to me, and his jovial manner blended with his wisdom and Bible knowledge were just a joy to be around. There were several of us altar boys who used to just go on Sunday after mass and hang out at the rectory, soaking up Father Kimbrough’s wisdom. I honestly felt I could have talked to him about anything in the world, and so much of my actual Bible knowledge was poured into my in those early years of dinners and discussions with one of the most wise and wonderful people God ever put on this earth.

  I am often disturbed and angered when I hear Protestant preachers going on about “what Catholics believe” because I know firsthand there is much misinformation presented. Things are taken out of context, or taken out of practice or publication from local, less-informed people rather than what the official stand of the Catholic Church is. Now don’t get me wrong, I know there are some points of deep disagreement, but at the heart of it, most Catholics I know have a clear understanding that their salvation comes from Jesus Christ alone. The manner in which they worship, and the way they understand the “means of grace”, i.e. how God relates to His children, differ greatly. Honestly, though, I think if you looked at the hyper-charismatic Protestant churches and compared them to the conservative end of evangelicalism, you would find as many or more differences between the ends of the Protestant spectrum than you would find between mainstream Protestantism and true Catholicism.

  Readers of my other works might also notice that the “Christian content” in this book is much lighter than in my other works. There are a number of reasons for this. First and foremost, not every idea lends itself to the ability to smoothly blend truth, as seen from the perspective of a Christian worldview, with the immediate story at hand. Chadash Chronicles was built around an idea of God being very real and integral to the stories themselves. Additionally, a few of the characters gave easy and natural “voice” to the worldview through their interactions with others. By using characters acting as those characters naturally act, there is a smooth blending of the Christian content with the overall story, thus giving it a natural feel.

  This is critical to a story. I love and encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ who also write Christian fic
tion, but unfortunately so much of what makes up the available body of “Christian fiction” is done in such a heavy-handed way, that no one who is not already a Christian can bear to read it. So many of these works are basically thinly-veiled sermons wrapped in the trappings of a story. I am not a fan of that approach. It alienates the part of the audience who might benefit most from exposure to a better understanding of the Christian worldview. It also sets up a false paradigm; namely that all Christian fiction is “preachy” and over the top. This in turn makes it all the more difficult for authors better at blending worldview into our stories to earn the trust of non-Christian readers.

  I have endeavored with my works to introduce elements of my worldview only when they are germane to the story or to the character at hand. Gideon, the holy knight character in the Chadash Chronicles books, gives me an easy, natural voice to use speaking truth into his companions as the situation calls for it. It is not preachy or heavy-handed, it is just Gideon. This brings us to Nick O’Brien.

  Like many Catholics (and Protestants for that matter), Nick is nominally religious. He believes in God, goes to church, prays, but he also does what so many Christians do. He compartmentalizes. Nick is still struggling to find his identity relating to God. His parents were killed when he was in his teens, and he faked his documents, went overseas, and was fighting in a war before he was eighteen. After the war, he returned to work on the police force and had to watch as the country fell into greater corruption and eventually economic ruin. He can go to church and hear about the glory of a loving God, but life has shown him a very different picture. Nick doesn’t blame God, but he, like many of us, doesn’t always understand God either.

  So having grown up in a family of largely nominal Catholics who were experts at compartmentalization, I have a plethora of experience to draw from in creating Nick’s particular spirituality. Keep in mind, just because I have written a realistic character this way does not mean I am advocating or endorsing this type of compartmentalized spirituality among Christians. Quite the opposite. I believe we understand God so much better when we open all the doors and let Him into every part of our life. But in reality, most people either don’t know how to do that, or have chosen to keep some parts closed off from God.

 

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