magsman
English edit
Etymology edit
From mag + -s- + man, of unclear origin. It has been suggested that mag was dialect for halfpenny[1] or for prattle.[2]
Noun edit
magsman (plural magsmen)
- (archaic) A con man who tries to deceive members of the public.
- 1846, George William MacArthur Reynolds, The Mysteries of London, page 60:
- […] M was a Magsman, frequenting Pall-Mall; / N was a Nose that turned chirp on his pal; […]
References edit
- ^ 2011, Jonathon Green, Crooked Talk: Five Hundred Years of the Language of Crime, Random House →ISBN
- ^ Oxford Dictionaries