History Main / ThievesCant

* Fenya (Russian thieves' cant; see below) crops up every now and then in the ''Literature/ErastFandorin'' series, such as when Xavery Grushin (a police inspector in disguise) manages to diffuse a conflict with a Moscow gang in ''The Death of Achilles'' by speaking fluent Fenya, which convinces them he is a friend, [[spoiler:though not quite]].

* ''Literature/VillainsByNecessity'': Arcie (thief) and Sam (assassin) have a conversation in rogue's cant so an evil sorceress won't know their plans to get the drop on her.

This cant is often the working language of a ThievesGuild. [[IncrediblyLamePun If you don't know cant, you "cant" get in.]]

* In ''Literature/ProvostsDog'', residents of the Lower City, where the line between legal and illegal is very thin, have an extensive slang vocabulary, most of which is cobbled together from historical slang ("foist/pickpocket" and "doxy/prostitute", for example). People from [[SkidRow the Cesspool]] neighborhood have their own subset of slang that is considered to be particularly disgraceful.

* {{Discworld}}:

If characters are trying to infiltrate the criminal underworld, or require their assistance, expect knowledge of cant to be a prerequisite for gaining anyone's trust. A character with a criminal past will often be revealed to be fluent in cant; this can be used as a way to introduce his criminal history as well. In many games influenced by ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', the common [[FighterMageThief Thief]] class will have a specific Thieves' Cant language usable only by that class.

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This cant is often the working language of a ThievesGuild. If you don't know cant, you ain't getting in.

* ''Literature/VillainsByNecessity: Arcie (thief) and Sam (assassin) have a conversation in rogue's cant so an evil sorceress won't know their plans to get the drop on her.

'''Translator:''' [[EvenTheSubtitlerIsStumped Sorry, no idea on that one.]]

'''Crook:''' ...sorry, I'm new. Could we run through that again?

* Fenya (феня) or Fenka (фенка) is the dialect of Russian used by UsefulNotes/TheMafiya. Its use is declining, but it was prevalent in 1990's, when criminal organizations could operate mostly unchecked.

** The ''TabletopGame/Planescape'' setting ue sd actual words from Victorian-era cant as part of planewalker slang.

* During UsefulNotes/TheGreatDepression, traveling vagrants developed a ''written'' cant to alert other vagrants of certain services, conditions, and warnings. For example, they'd write a symbol on a surface or wall to indicate that a local was willing to provide a place to sleep for the night.

* [[UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan Klansmen]] used [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan_titles_and_vocabulary a specific language]] to speak between them. A lot of it is frankly kind of ridiculous, especially the ones that use a whole bunch of "Kl" substitutions. Of course, what ''isn't'' fundamentally absurd about a gang of racists who dress up like {{Bedsheet Ghost}}s?

* [[UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan Klansmen]] used [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan_titles_and_vocabulary a specific language]] to speak between them.

* One of the Blog/ThingsMrWelchIsNoLongerAllowedToDoInAnRPG is to call Thieves' Cant "Illegalese."

* Many real-life cants drew much of their vocabulary from Romani, the language of the Roma people (commonly called gypsies in North America, though this is considered offensive in Europe). The Roma were ostracized for centuries in European cities and towns and were forced to live on the outskirts of society, which generally entailed making a living off of crime, hence the stereotype of "gypsy thieves." Because Roma were so prevalent on the societal fringe in Europe, cants took many words, even sometimes the bulk of them, from Romani.

Enter the Thieves' Cant, a secret language used by such lowlifes to go about their daily "business" without being caught. The language can range from elaborate slang lexicons to entirely different languages unrelated to those spoken by the everyday folk. The TropeNamer is the RealLife [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thieves%27_cant Thieves' Cant]] (also called "Rogues' Cant" or "peddler's French"), which was used by criminals, beggars, and others on the fringe of society in Great Britain for some time; similar cants were present throughout Europe. This history is probably why such cants are prevalent MedievalEuropeanFantasy, though they show up elsewhere as well.

If characters are trying to infiltrate the criminal underworld, or require their assistance, expect knowledge of cant to be a prerequisite for gaining anyone's trust. A character with a criminal past will often be revealed to be fluent in cant; this can be used as a way to introduce their criminal history as well. In many games influenced by ''TabletopGames/DungeonsAndDragons'', the common [[FighterMageThief Thief]] class will have a specific Thieves' Cant language usable only by that class.

Related to SpySpeak, which is simply speaking in code, as opposed to using new vocabulary and languages -- though criminal SpySpeak may well evolve into ThievesCant should it catch on with others in the criminal world.

* One of the Blog/ThingsMrWelchIsNoLongerAllowedToDoInAnRPG is call Thieves' Cant "Illegalese."

* Fenya (феня) or Fenka (фенка) is the dialect of Russian used by TheMafiya. Its use is declining, but it was prevalent in 1990's, when criminal organizations could operate mostly unchecked.
* During TheGreatDepression, traveling vagrants developed a ''written'' cant to alert other vagrants of certain services, conditions, and warnings. For example, they'd write a symbol on a surface or wall to indicate that a local was willing to provide a place to sleep for the night.
* Many real life cants drew much of their vocabulary from Romani, the language of the Roma people (commonly called gypsies in North America, though this is considered offensive in Europe). The Roma were ostracized for centuries in European cities and towns and were forced to live on the outskirts of society, which generally entailed making a living off of crime, hence the stereotype of "gypsy thieves." Because Roma were so prevalent on the societal fringe in Europe, cants took many words, even sometimes the bulk of them, from Romani.
* [[KuKluxKlan Klansmen]] used [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan_titles_and_vocabulary a specific language]] to speak between them.

NeedsMoreExamples.

--> '''Series/HorribleHistories''', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9akhuIQNlc "News in Tudor Criminal Slang"]]