30 For Timber

Johnny Oakes, whose mob monicker was “Timber” was in Dutch. The finger was put on him for speaking out of turn to his twist. The mob decided that, for safety’s sake, Timber must go riding. Skivers and Skats drew the job of sneezing Timber and chopping him down. Skivers and Skats were rambling down the drag when they I.Cd. Timber pushing pills in a pill-joint. They curbed the boiler and rambled into the pill-joint with their roscoes in their coat kicks and fronted Timber. They officed him out to the boiler and as soon as he hit the boiler they cleaned him of his protection. Skivers took the wheel and Skats acted as cover on Timber. Then they high-balled to the timbers and stopped and made Timber get out. Skats said, “This is curtains for you, Timber.” Timber asked why he was riding. He was then infoed that his chatter to his twist about his capers was 30 for him, and the rest of the mob said 40. Skivers said, “We’ll give you a break for your agate and let you play rabbit. If you make it, why 40; if not, it’s 30. When I give you the office scram, and we will let you make 100 before chopping. That is your only out.” Timber was given the office and scrammed for his agate, but the wipers got into action and chopped him down. 30 for Timber.

The Argot of the Underworld by David W. Maurer; American Speech, 1931

Bonus: Glossary of Harlem slang appended to Maxwell Bodenheim’s novel, Naked on Roller Skates (1930)

acecray outcray: putting the ace on the bottom of the deck, where the dealer can abstract it

bah-bah: negligible object

cake-slashing: assault and mayhem

century: hundred dollars

chippy: dissolute girl

chivvy: unpleasant odor

clip your tongue: be silent

cram the paper: cheat at cards

cut your chops: mind your own business

five hard: a fist, a punch

frill: girl, woman

glued their traps: remained silent

going to the timbers: retreating

grand: thousand dollars

grease it: pay bribe money, or blackmail

hamburger down: take it easy

hock your skin: make a difficult promise

hootch: liquor

hotsprat: trivial but agreeable entertainment

in the hole: out of money

lame your foot: deprive you of assistance

leathered: kicked unfairly

lippy chaser: a negro who prefers whites

payman, a: a cadet

pinktail: white person

scrub: face

slide them into concrete: eject them to the sidewalk

spreadeagle: to knock down

stick it: capture something

stick-stick: defeated by previous capture

stretch: jail term

three-nine: sexual variant

thumb: use the thumb to displace cards in a poker-game

trip his muscle: over-reach himself

wraps, or skins, or strips: dollars