Dictionary
of
Carny, Circus, Sideshow
&
Vaudeville Lingo
This
list is just a small part of my e-book "On The Midway,"
guaranteed to give you many hours of delight, available for a very reasonable price
HERE
This list
is copyright © 2008 Wayne N. Keyser,
and may not be used in whole or
part without permission.
People use it anyway, it's all over the web -
when you see it, think of me.
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"What are those guys saying?"
Every trade has a history, a culture and secrets, all most vividly expressed in the special terms used by its workers. The "lingo" of any industry serves many purposes: it's a shorthand for the complex tasks unique to the business, it defines who 'belongs' and who doesn't, and it keeps the secrets of the business hidden 'backstage' away from the public.
Here are the unique words used on the carnival lot, a language that defines a world of wonders.
You can dip into this glossary to seek individual terms, but you can also read
it as a whole, using it as a detailed guide to the
carnival/sideshow/circus/vaudeville worlds (distilled to eliminate the average
book's cute anecdotes and to concentrate the essence). I hope it avoids being,
in Studs Terkel's words, "like a National Geographic documentary on the Zulu people, all detail and
no insight." Some contributors
have supplied (but I have chosen not to include) slang terms widely used outside
the field. Terms in active use vary significantly between various areas
of the U.S.
(More background below)
American Circus Slang British/Euro Circus Slang Vaudeville Slang
Carnival Slang & Sideshow Slang A-C D-I J-P Q-Z
Ciazarn Gypsies Website Home Page
It's a different world
on the carnival lot, for good reason. In such a setting, it's "us" against
"everyone else" and carny slang helps reinforce that protective wall.
Consider that the townies, wherever you go, draw that line too. The fine upstanding church-going citizens of Smalltown U.S.A. always look with great suspicion on these odd people invading their town ... weird people who have no stake in your community, no fixed address, who look like they just got out of prison yesterday, who certainly don't play by your rules, and who have come for your money. Surely they'll cheat you and give you a stuffed bear if you're lucky. And don't forget those hussies who dance in the girlie show ... ladies, watch out for your men!
There's good reason for the mutual suspicion, and the biggest factor is that the carny is here today and gone tomorrow. The locals have no real reason to be fair to you (you've got a pocketful of the citizens' money, surely the Chief of Police could find some infraction for which you could be induced to part with some of it) and many of the things about you that they view with suspicion are true to some degree.
On the other hand, the carnival is a setting where an enterprising person can make a living even if he's lost most of the resources society likes a person to have. Try to get a job anywhere else when you've lost your moorings ... maybe you're not content settling down in one place, maybe the road is better than whatever you've left behind, maybe you've got a difficult past, maybe you're just not cut out for the nine-to-five life. All those things could be viewed as a free and entrerprising spirit, or they could be viewed as someone who's just not fit to be among decent people ... all depends which side of the fence you're looking from.
So you need some rules to be able to get along in such company: don't nose into anyone else's business, don't screw up anyone else's game, and when the trucks leave the lot all debts are paid. And you need to band together to protect yourselves (and to make a buck) from the locals: don't give 'em your real name (after all, there was that little disagreement in the last town just a few miles away), stand by your fellows (all anyone has to do is shout 'hey rube' and rowdy locals usually find that the opposing side has bigger and meaner players on their side).
I'm sure I've forgotten something, but in essence that's "the carny code": it's us against the world and it'll always be that way, so roll with it.
"Carny
Lingo" glossaries appear all over the Web, mostly from the same
source,
and the work should be credited to its originators (as follows).
Many were researched by James Taylor, publisher of
Shocked
and Amazed,
His language is used here with his kind permission.
Taylor's
material appears, usually without credit,
in many other spots on the Web. Additional contributions from Tom McClellan
and from Diana Philips, a third-generation circus performer. Extra special thanks to the real thing:
the invaluable help from the late Slim Price and his (now defunct) Freakshow Discussion Group,
and the current "with it" experts at the Sideshow
World Discussion Group
and at the Sideshow
World website .
Many terms overlap the circus and carnival, but are given only once.
Find an error? Please report it to me. Here's an EMAIL LINK