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But I found a bunch of cool words in the dictionary.
hobblebush: /Viburnum lantana/, also moosewood, hoarwithy, witch hobble, American wayfaring tree.
kebbuck: a cheese.
kanone: (slang) a hot-shot skiier. [< G.]
kaput: [< G. /kaputt/, < Fr. /\^etre capot/ to take no tricks in a game of piquet.]
kalamein door: a wooden door cladded in galvanized steel, previously used as a fire door. [Trade name of a New York company (still extant), said to be < /calamine/, zinc oxide, so named for the zinc used to galvanize. But Century Dict. has |kalamain| "a compound of tin, antimony, bismuth, lead, and nickel used in the manufacture of a particular form of galvanized iron."] (Our garage has this as a fire door.)
wenchman: a fish of the snapper family, /Pristipomoides aquilonaris/. [< Malay, /ikan lutjan/]
woadwaxen: the plant /Genista tinctoria/, dyer's broom or greenweed, used as a yellow dye which in combination with woad made Kendal green. [< /woodwax/, prob. < /wood/ + /wax/ to grow.]
wind of 120 days: a windy summer period in eastern Iran, and in nearby areas.
windlestraw: a dry stalk of grass.
gulgul: a preparation of crushed shells, applied to the bottom of a ship to protect against the teredo. [< Hindi /galgal/.]
hogmanay: in Scotland, the last day of the year; an oatmeal cake given to children on that day; the cry which they use to solicit it door-to-door. [OF. /aguillaneuf/, used identically, though its connection to /hogmanay/ is unknown.]
linstock: a staff used in gunnery, holding a lit match and pointed at the base to stand in the ground.
blind seed: a disease of rye, due to the fungus /Gloeotinia temulenta/.
biofog: a steam fog caused by animal moisture in cold air.
winterbourne: a stream which flows only in winter.
wire-wove: a type of paper with fine uniform surface, a wove paper.
wove paper: paper made in a mold whose wires are woven into a mesh.
laid paper: paper made in a mold whose wires run parallel.
wire side: the side of the paper that was on the bottom, pressed against the wire mold and acquiring its texture.
felt side: the side of the paper that was on the top, generally smoother.
dandy roll: a metal stamp roll used to apply a watermark to paper.
wiretapper: a swindler who claims to tap the wire transmitting horse-race results in order to place winning bets (at the last minute?), and is willing to place a bet on the mark's behalf.
cassareep: a syrup made by boiling down the juice of bitter cassava, used as an antiseptic and as a flavoring. [< a Carib language.]
withywind: bindweed, especially /Convolvulus arvensis/.
snake fence: a fence made of rails laid horizontally, each section interleaved with the previous and set at an oblique angle to it.
hobblebush: /Viburnum lantana/, also moosewood, hoarwithy, witch hobble, American wayfaring tree.
kebbuck: a cheese.
kanone: (slang) a hot-shot skiier. [< G.]
kaput: [< G. /kaputt/, < Fr. /\^etre capot/ to take no tricks in a game of piquet.]
kalamein door: a wooden door cladded in galvanized steel, previously used as a fire door. [Trade name of a New York company (still extant), said to be < /calamine/, zinc oxide, so named for the zinc used to galvanize. But Century Dict. has |kalamain| "a compound of tin, antimony, bismuth, lead, and nickel used in the manufacture of a particular form of galvanized iron."] (Our garage has this as a fire door.)
wenchman: a fish of the snapper family, /Pristipomoides aquilonaris/. [< Malay, /ikan lutjan/]
woadwaxen: the plant /Genista tinctoria/, dyer's broom or greenweed, used as a yellow dye which in combination with woad made Kendal green. [< /woodwax/, prob. < /wood/ + /wax/ to grow.]
wind of 120 days: a windy summer period in eastern Iran, and in nearby areas.
windlestraw: a dry stalk of grass.
gulgul: a preparation of crushed shells, applied to the bottom of a ship to protect against the teredo. [< Hindi /galgal/.]
hogmanay: in Scotland, the last day of the year; an oatmeal cake given to children on that day; the cry which they use to solicit it door-to-door. [OF. /aguillaneuf/, used identically, though its connection to /hogmanay/ is unknown.]
linstock: a staff used in gunnery, holding a lit match and pointed at the base to stand in the ground.
blind seed: a disease of rye, due to the fungus /Gloeotinia temulenta/.
biofog: a steam fog caused by animal moisture in cold air.
winterbourne: a stream which flows only in winter.
wire-wove: a type of paper with fine uniform surface, a wove paper.
wove paper: paper made in a mold whose wires are woven into a mesh.
laid paper: paper made in a mold whose wires run parallel.
wire side: the side of the paper that was on the bottom, pressed against the wire mold and acquiring its texture.
felt side: the side of the paper that was on the top, generally smoother.
dandy roll: a metal stamp roll used to apply a watermark to paper.
wiretapper: a swindler who claims to tap the wire transmitting horse-race results in order to place winning bets (at the last minute?), and is willing to place a bet on the mark's behalf.
cassareep: a syrup made by boiling down the juice of bitter cassava, used as an antiseptic and as a flavoring. [< a Carib language.]
withywind: bindweed, especially /Convolvulus arvensis/.
snake fence: a fence made of rails laid horizontally, each section interleaved with the previous and set at an oblique angle to it.
+ I forgot one
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As for wiretapper, you should watch the old Redford/Newman movie "The Sting" to see it in action. Another couple of my favorite miscreant words, yegg and yanef. A yegg was the guy who blew the doors of safes with nitroglycerine. A yanef was just a general thug.
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There was also a complementary scam, where they'd set up an entire betting parlor with a delayed feed, and for all I know with the clocks set behind, so that they would know the results of the races before the marks did (and could, I assume, bet successfully against them, or manipulate the odds, or something).
There's a book on the subject I enjoyed: The Big Con, David W Maurer, 1940. Fascinating stuff.
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SPL doesn't have it, but it's in print. I'll have to get rid of some other book to make room.
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It's a good movie, with an amazing soundtrack. There are a couple minor technical flaws with the scam mechamism, but if you just enjoy the interplay of characters, it's a great movie.
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