Blue.
(Carnival; antonym of red) Poor paying; not prosperous—applied to a carnival crowd of spectators.
—Dictionary of American Underworld Lingo, Hyman E. Goldin, Editor in Chief, 1950.
Blue room.
1. The back room in a police station where suspects are examined by proper or, frequently, by third degree methods. 2. (Prison) The solitary confinement chamber in which excessively harsh punishments are inflicted.
—Dictionary of American Underworld Lingo, Hyman E. Goldin, Editor in Chief, 1950.
Blue sky racket.
The promotion of stocks or bonds in a company capitalized illegally.—Note: Named after the “blue sky law,” framed to curb what its originators termed the “capitalization of the blue sky.”]
—Dictionary of American Underworld Lingo, Hyman E. Goldin, Editor in Chief, 1950.
Brown.
1. (Prohibition era trade term) Whiskey. [Note: “Brown plaid” was in occasional use to distinguish Scotch from rye.]
—Dictionary of American Underworld Lingo, Hyman E. Goldin, Editor in Chief, 1950.
Color.
Money; cash. “You got to show plenty color in that joint (gambling house).”
—Dictionary of American Underworld Lingo, Hyman E. Goldin, Editor in Chief, 1950.
Gander.
A surreptitious look; a hurried glance. “Take a gander, Swat, ain’t that law (a policeman) piking us off (watching us)?”
—Dictionary of American Underworld Lingo, Hyman E. Goldin, Editor in Chief, 1950.
Glim.
1. A light, especially a burglars’s shielded torch. “Nix on that glim; we ain’t got a license (police immunity) to clip (steal) around here.” 2. The lamp for keeping the opium pipe heated.
—Dictionary of American Underworld Lingo, Hyman E. Goldin, Editor in Chief, 1950.
Glimmers.
The eyes; eyeglasses.
—Dictionary of American Underworld Lingo, Hyman E. Goldin, Editor in Chief, 1950.
Gold badge man.
Any detective or police official who carries a yellow tin; a headquarters man.
—Dictionary of American Underworld Lingo, Hyman E. Goldin, Editor in Chief, 1950.
Gravel-eye.
A glass eye.
—Dictionary of American Underworld Lingo, Hyman E. Goldin, Editor in Chief, 1950.