Note 41 — A SHORT HISTORY OF SLANG, OR THE VULGAR LANGUAGE OF FAST LIFE.
Reading edition
The word Slang assumed various meanings amongst costermongers, beggars, and vagabonds of all orders. It was, and is still, used to express “cheating by false weights,” “a raree show,” “retiring by a back door,” “a watch-chain,” their “secret language,” &c. [41]