Guild Cant : Code-Talkers
#Guild Cant: Code-Talkers
By Anonymous Lexicologist
1st edition, dated Year 200 of the 4th Era
Author’s Foreword
The Thieves Guild is not a myth. It is understandable as to why one might believe that, as they are a secretive fraternity of lawbreakers who go to many extensive and bizarre lengths to conceal their activities and inner functioning from non-members. The Guild wants you to believe that they are a fable, and their mythos is but one clandestine weapon they utilize against the unsuspecting masses. That is, in part, what this publication entails. My safety and standard of living would likely be imperiled if I were to indulge in all I have learned of their dealings, and it is otherwise against my interests as well. This tome is not an endeavor to subvert the Guild, but rather, it is a publication of a certain topic that intrigues me.
Lexicography and linguistics are passions of mine, and as a scholar of such subjects, I have been salaried by numerous ministries and private proprietors from all over Tamriel to translate manuscript of various languages, both living and dead. I’ll admit that my studies have become tedious over the years, but recently, a stirring new task has sparked the flame in my heart for speechlore! That is the case that the Imperial Watch has presented me with. Here in the woefully marred Imperial City, once the Jewel of the Rumare, the now convalescing Imperial Watch are struggling terribly against the criminal underworld that has been emboldened by the chaos that the war left behind. The outlaws who have been preying on the wretched state of order have been nearly uncontested in recent years by the law, and now their organizations have only become more complex.
I thought them disorganized, personally, but when an agent of the Watch approached me with several documents belonging to illicit smugglers and incarcerated master thieves, and then requested that I translate, I was taken aback by this new discovery. It consisted of seemingly random, nonsensical use of words from several dialects that appeared devoid of meaning without context. Even more extraordinarily, several words appear to be entirely original, with no other vernacular means to trace their origin. Thieves in this city have invented their own language!
It’s what is known in linguistic circles as a cant or a cryptolect, a collection of code words and lingo in place of diction that might otherwise alert authorities or bystanders to their illegal activity. The extent of the phrasing, however, is beyond the complexity of any slang that I have witnessed in my time and I have reservations in labeling it just a simple use of underclass patois. It has been created with the sole purpose of ciphering their speech, so as non-Guild persons cannot comprehend them. Absolutely fascinating!
Hence, this book will serve as a dictionary for the terms that I have interpreted so far. More editions will be published shortly, as the “Guild Cant” –as I’ve coined it– is continually developing as you read this sentence.
It saddens me somewhat that I will not be able to personally claim the title of the academic who annotated the Guild’s strange argot, but such is the nature of such underground affairs, and that tinge of romanticism is not lost on me.
A
Able – An accomplice or accessory to a crime; often exploited to escape capture.
Academy – A brothel or whorehouse. ex: “Gentlemen, if you need me, I’ll be attending the academy.”
Addle-cove – An Idiot (see Cove). ex: “That addle-cove is going to get us killed”.
Ale with the pigs – A euphemism for torture. ex: “Tell us the name of your informant, or you’ll be drinking ‘ale with the pigs’.”
Almost clean – Referring to dusk, or the period of time right before sunset.
Angling for bits – Pickpocketing in a dense crowd.
Anthill – A heavily manned fortress or guard tower.
B
Bad blood – A truly despicable, but important, person. ex: “By Azura, he’s a bad blood, for sure.”
Bandog – A civil guardsman or member of law enforcement.
Bark – A forgery. Generally referring to altered official documents like ledgers or promissory notes.
Beek – A noble, or wealthy magistrate.
Bilk – A con or farce.
Bite – Either a mechanical trap, or an ambush. ex: “You’re walking right into a bite, fool.”
Bits – Miscellaneous stolen goods that can fit in one’s pocket, like jewelry or trinkets.
Bleed – An expression of distaste or disgust. ex: “The sewers again? Ugh! That bleeds!”
Boozing ken – Pub, bar, tavern.
Boring – Risky or dangerous.
Borrow – A somewhat less conspicuous way to say “steal something”.
Box-cove – A thief who specializes in cracking safes.
Bracelets – Shackles, fetters, manacles.
Brimstone – Abandoned person, usually an accomplice who was arrested during a heist.
Button – Counterfeit gold septims, typically tungsten wrapped in a thin gold leaf.
Byler – A patrolling civil guardsman. ex: “We’ll have to dago the byler.”
C
Cackler – A witness to a crime or an informant for the law. ex: “He’s a cackler!”
Case – Leather armor, or similar light armors.
Chant – The news, a story, or conversation. ex: “What’s the chant?”
Clank – A guard or warrior in heavy armor. This term generally implies that the acknowledged warrior’s armor is a hindrance that makes them clumsy or unable to maneuver efficiently. ex: “Ford the river; that clank can’t swim!”
Cloy – To steal something skillfully and easily. ex: “I cloyed that jing!”
Cloy-cove – A very talented thief.
Cloy-cove Sharp – A Master Thief, or high ranking Guild member below the rank of a Guildmaster.
Comfy – Out for the count; not interested in a job. ex: “Jauf told me that he’s comfy tonight.”
Counterfeit crank – A beggar who is faking having an illness or injury to get more drakes.
Counting worms – Dead.
Cove – Man, or persons, typically male.
Cramp word – A death sentence. ex: “If we’re snapt, we’ll get the cramp word for this.”
D
Dangle – To hang as a death sentence. ex: “He got dangled yesterday.”
Dago – Kill, eliminate, remove, or forget. A shortened word referencing the Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon, who governs destruction. ex: “Poor bastard. He got himself dagoed by the damned gnashers.”
Dago that – Stop it, or forget about it. ex: “I owe you one!” “Nah, dago that.” or “Dago that noise!”
Dive – A hideout.
Doxy – A high-class prostitute.
Doyen – The second in command to a Guildmaster.
Drab – A cheap prostitute.
Drag – To follow someone. ex: “Drag me, mate.”
Draw-latch – An expert in picking locks and disabling traps.
Drawing the Emperor’s picture – Referring to the act of counterfeiting septims (see Button).
Draw – To pickpocket, the act of pickpocketing.
Dress up – To tie someone up. ex: “We ought to dress up the cackler.”
Dropping a glove – To lose a hand as a form of legal punishment.
E
Echo – A fake witness, bribed or planted by the Guild.
Expense coin – A bribe, typically to witnesses or law enforcement.
F
Fat-Lady – Heavy in the literal or figurative sense. ex: “Gods, this box is a fat-lady!”
Flag waving – To plan a crime with someone. ex: “Two other gentlemen and I were just flag waving.”
Flash – Magic or spells. Can be meant as a literal meaning or as an emphasis on something that has a delightfully unusual quality. ex: “When the piffle-chanter hit the flash, I thought I was dagoed.” Or “That rig was flash, gentlemen.”
Froke – Cowardly; a coward. ex: “He’s a froker”.
Footpad – A thief.
Foyst – To steal something from a distance away or somewhere difficult to reach.
Foystier – A thief who carries a long pole with a hook on the end, stealing valuables from people’s windows while they sleep.
G
Gentleman – A thief who is affiliated directly with the Guild.
Getting dirty – Referring to the early morning, near sunrise, when it’s becoming dangerously close to daylight.
Giddy – To be interested in a job, or agree to the terms of a contract. ex: “Sign if you’re giddy.”
Glass – Providing specific details or plans about a job or heist, as in, to make things ‘clear as glass’. ex: “What’s the glass?”
Glim – Gold.
Gnashers – A term for the collective Imperial Watch; the civil authorities of the Imperial City.
J
Jawdack – A jeering term for an overly superstitious thief, or an avid worshipper of Nocturnal. I believe the term to be associated directly with the "Jackdaw", a common blackbird. My reasoning is that ravens, crows, and other such black-plumed family of icteridae birds are related to religious imagery of Nocturnal. As the name is inverted, I imagine this insinuates that the thief in question is "backwards" in his beliefs. ex: “He won’t do the job, says it’s ‘bad luck’. What a jawdack.”
Jing – Stolen coins or money, in the sense that it “jingles in your pocket”.
Joke – A lock on a chest or a door. ex: “We’ll need a draw-latch to tig that joke.”
Jukrum – Booty, bounty, stolen goods. This entry is particularly interesting, as it appears to be a rough transliteration of an Old Cyrodillic word meaning incandescent or shiny of the 2nd Era. How it came to common use in this age is an enigma.
K
Kaddey – On board, or up to a challenge. The term is derivative of a Ta'agra term, particularly of the Pa'alatiini dialect. ex: “You think you’re kaddey to this, ketch?”
Ketch – A fool, especially someone who gets themselves into trouble when they should know better. The origin is unclear, but it appears to be a Cyrodilic parlance of some vague Dunmeri influence (possibly Alt Redoranis?).
Kiss – A pry bar or similar lever tool. ex: “Hand me the kiss.”
Knock Knock – An informal greeting in place of hello.
L
Lady – Nocturnal, aka Lady Luck. ex: “The Lady’s kind to me tonight.”
Lag – An imprisoned criminal.
Laugh – The act of escaping or slipping away. ex: “They almost snapt me, but I gave ‘em the laugh.”
Laughing ken – the local Guild hideout.
Lifted – To be promoted within the guild ranks. ex: “Prince Prig just lifted me. Guess who’s cloy-cove sharp now?"
Lost – Dead. ex: “He got lost.” Telling someone to “get lost” is actually in very poor taste.
Lurch – An undercover spy or civil guardsman.
M
Melt down – Spend money quickly. ex: “Let’s go melt down this jing!”
Milk – Silver.
N
Nap stick – A heavy stick, club or mace.
Newt – A midly derogatory term for an Argonian.
Nim – To steal something.
Nimmer – A thief.
Noose – A valuable jeweled necklace, generally made of gold or silver.
Nypper – A con artist or swindler.
P
Pashgab – Someone who only ever seems to complain; to moan. ex: “Quit ‘yer crying, pashgab.”
Peg your ears – To eavesdrop. ex: “I just pegged my ears on some tasty chant.”
Piffle-chanter – an insulting reference to a mage or wizard.
Pike it – An informal and rather impolite way to tell someone to shut up, and reiterate; (hold your horses).
Poke – A knife, dagger, sword, or any other type of straight blade. ex: “Keep your poke holstered, ketch.”
Prig – To steal something.
Prigger – A thief.
Prince Prig – The Guildmaster of a local guild chapter.
R
Rig – A heist or a job. ex: “Doesn’t sound too boring… I’ll take the rig!”
Rommer – A beggar paid to eavesdrop or spy for the Guild. May or may not be an actual beggar.
Roof hoof – Can be both a verb meaning to travel by rooftop, or it can be a noun referencing an acrobat.
Rooton’ – The act of committing crimes.
Rounder – A professional burglar.
Rust – Copper.
S
Shadow dance – To turn invisible by use of magic spell or elixir. ex: “I wish I knew how to shadow dance.”
Shadow Dancer – A thief who is particularly skilled and studied in Illusion magic, the term referring to chameleon and invisibility spells. I interpet this sort of individual to be uncommon and highly sought after in the Thieves Guild. At least, one would hope so.
Shadow hide you – A kind farewell from one thief to another, wishing luck.
Shoulder tap – To stab someone in the back, figuratively or literally. ex: “When the ketch wanders in here with the jukrum, and tickles the bite, we’ll shoulder tap him.”
Show – The local market, either legitimate or illicit.
Shriv – An untrustworthy or incompetent person. This term is typically offensive among thieves. ex: “He tried to bilk me out of my jing! He’s a shriv.”
Smooth – Semilegal items of unknown origin, such as unlabeled alcohol or ‘used goods’. It is a term typically used by fences.
Snapt – To be arrested or caught.
Snut – An off-duty member of the civil guard.
Spike – Target or mark for a pickpocket; victim of pickpocketing.
Stop hole – A hideout.
Swive – To engage in sexual relations. ex: “I hear you swived that old drab. You'll catch corpus, you addled-cove!”
T
Tag – A nickname or alias. ex “His tag is Shadowstep. Hah! Sounds like a shriv.”
Teeth – A dog or similar beast trained to guard an area.
Three trees with a ladder – The gallows, or a similar structure for hanging sentenced criminals.
Thumbs – Midnight.
Tickle – To engage, alert, or trigger something; generally a trap. ex: “Careful, ketch. You’ll tickle that teeth (dog).”
Tig – The act of picking a lock.
Tinker – Subterranean sewer or underworks of a city.
Tumble – To engage in sexual relations. ex: “Favor us a tumble, love?”
Turn stag – To betray somebody or use treachery.
U
Uncle – Fence
V
Visiting the neighbors – Burglary.
W
Whoobub – To start a riot, generally as a cover for an escape or prison break.
Worms – Brains, smarts, intelligence. To say someone’s got worms is to imply that they’re quite clever. ex: “You’ve got quite some worms in yer head.”
Wren – A person designated as a lookout during a heist or burglary, sometimes equipped with a small whistle that sounds like a songbird, hence the name.
Y
Yald – A promiscuous or loose woman; a whore.
Yaldson – An extremely offensive insult meaning “the son of a prostitute”.
Yarp – To squeal; tattle-tale, or reveal information about a crime. ex “That cackler’s gonna yarp to the grashers.”
When overheard in conversation by untrained ears, Guild Cant can be particularly difficult to follow, much to the advantage of footpads everywhere. As an example, consider this typical discussion between two thieves, which would likely take place in a public place like a pub or tavern.
EXAMPLE CONVERSATION
Thief #1: “Knock knock! Me an’ ‘Rough-Dog’ was just flag wavin’ to visit the neighbors in the town show. Silas is our draw-latch and is already kaddey to it. We lookin’ fer a fourth gentleman for wren. Giddy?”
Thief #2: “Cut the chant and glass me. What kind of lukrum ya wanna nim? How’s your uncle?”
Thief #1: “Uncle’s out of town, we’re going to pick jing at thumbs.”
Thief #2: “In show? That’s fat-lady. Sounds too boring, and I ain’t your able when yer snapt. I’m comfy.”
TRANSLATION
Thief #1: “Hello! ‘Rough-Dog’ and I were planning on burglarizing shops in the Market District. Silas can lockpick for us, and he has already agreed to it. We’re looking for a fourth thief to act as a lookout. Interested?”
Thief #2: “Hold on, I want details. What kind of loot are you going to steal? Who’s your fence?”
Thief #1: “We don’t need a fence. We are going for septims only, during midnight.”
Thief #2: “From the market? That’s heavy work. The job sounds too risky, and I will not be an accessory to your crime when you are apprehended. I’m not interested.”