A Glossary For 1920

Ring And Racket Slang.

Mickey Palooka is set on the road in 1920, among fighters, seconds and bookmakers. These are words those men used, with the year each is first recorded and where that record comes from. A few famous ones are missing on purpose. They had not been coined yet, and they're listed at the end.

Marker

A signed note that admits a gambling debt. An IOU held by the house or the bookmaker.

First Recorded

1883, in The World of New York, as recorded by Green's Dictionary of Slang. The paper note grew out of the faro marker, a token a trusted player could bet with and settle later.

In The Game

The whole game hangs on one. You sign a marker for $3,600 to Abe Saltz and have 10 weeks to clear it.

Sources: Green's Dictionary of Slang, marker, American Heritage Dictionary, marker

The Book

A bookmaker sets odds, takes bets against them and writes them in his book. To make book is to run that trade.

First Recorded

Bookmaking in the betting sense is recorded from the 1820s and 1830s, bookie from 1885, and the American make book from 1896 in George Ade.

In The Game

Before every fight the bookmaker posts a board of bets on you. It's called The Book, and every dollar in it is fictional.

Sources: Etymonline, bookmaker, Oxford English Dictionary, bookmaker, Green's Dictionary of Slang, book

Vigorish

The lender's or the bookmaker's cut. In its first recorded sense, the interest on a debt.

First Recorded

1912, in Alfred Henry Lewis's Apaches of New York, spelled viggresh. The dictionaries trace it to a Russian word for winnings, by way of Yiddish. The short form vig is not recorded until 1963.

In The Game

Saltz never says the word. He doesn't have to.

Sources: Oxford English Dictionary, vigorish, Green's Dictionary of Slang, vigorish

Purse

The prize money put up for a fight and paid to the fighters.

First Recorded

The 1640s, for money collected as a prize in a race or contest.

In The Game

Every fight pays a purse, win or lose, and it goes into your roll.

Sources: Etymonline, purse, American Heritage Dictionary, purse

Take A Dive

To lose on purpose by going down from a punch that didn't earn it.

First Recorded

A 1916 cartoon by T. A. Dorgan has a fighter who took five dives in three rounds, and the exact phrase is in print by 1919, both as recorded by Green's. In 1920 it was new slang.

In The Game

Some nights The Book holds an envelope marked The Dive.

Sources: Green's Dictionary of Slang, dive

Second

The man in your corner who looks after you between rounds.

First Recorded

The 1580s, for the attendant of a man fighting a duel or a prize fight. Corner man in the boxing sense dates from the 1920s, and cut man is not recorded until 1949.

In The Game

Your corner is where recovery waits. Hearts go there and do nothing until you're knocked down.

Sources: Etymonline, second, Oxford English Dictionary, corner-man, Oxford English Dictionary, cutman

Ham And Egger

A journeyman fighter of no distinction who boxes for small money.

First Recorded

1910 in the Bisbee Daily Review, and 1911 in the Chicago Tribune. This is the word 1920 used for the kind of fighter later decades called a palooka.

In The Game

There are 50 named men on the bills, and the Sunday paper has a line on each.

Sources: Green's Dictionary of Slang, ham, Oxford English Dictionary, ham-and-egger

Glass Jaw

A chin that can't take a punch.

First Recorded

1917, as glass jawed, in T. A. Dorgan. Recent slang in 1920.

In The Game

Every opponent has a chin, printed as a number from 50 to 64. It's how much he can take.

Sources: Green's Dictionary of Slang, glass jaw, Dictionary.com, glass jaw

Haymaker

A wide, swinging punch thrown with everything behind it and not much aim.

First Recorded

1903, in Arthur Binstead. The picture is the long swing of a scythe.

In The Game

His biggest cards are the 12s, 13s and 14s. You can take one, or you can save your block for it.

Sources: Green's Dictionary of Slang, haymaker, Etymonline, haymaker

Down For The Count

Knocked down and not up before the referee reaches ten.

First Recorded

1903, in a Kentucky newspaper, as recorded by Green's. The ten second count itself comes from the Queensberry rules of the 1860s.

In The Game

A knockdown cashes everything in your corner at once. With nothing saved, you stay down.

Sources: Green's Dictionary of Slang, count, Marquess of Queensberry Rules

Saved By The Bell

Kept from a knockout because the round ended first.

First Recorded

1891, in a Seattle fight report. The story about bells rigged to coffins is false: no one has found the phrase in that sense before its use at ringside. In 1920 it still meant an actual bell.

In The Game

Every round ends on the bell, and a fight is 12 of them.

Sources: Wordorigins, saved by the bell, The Phrase Finder, saved by the bell

Throw Up The Sponge

To give up the fight. A second tossed the sponge into the ring to say his man was done.

First Recorded

1845, in a London sporting paper. Throw in the towel is the younger phrase, recorded from 1904 in Australia and 1913 in America, so in 1920 the sponge was still the usual way to say it.