Other nicknames (also derived from the initials) are The London Thieving Corps (1855-7); The Moke Train (1857-60), etc.
Safe as a thief in a mill, phr. (old).—Very secure.
1630. Taylor, Works, iii. 9. There she may lodge, and trade too if she will, As sure and safe as theeves are in a mill.
1694. Motteux, Rabelais, v. iv. Your gaol birds . . . are as safe as thieves in a mill within this sanctuary.
Thieving-irons, subs. phr. (old).—Scissors.
Thimble, subs. (old).—A watch;
a yack (q.v.): hence thimble-*twister
= a watch thief;
thimble and slang = watch
and chain (Grose, Vaux).
1834. Ainsworth, Rookwood, iii. v. With my thimble [watch] of ridge.
1901. Walker, In the Blood, 138. Obtained in the form of silver money and a watch and chain, or, in thieves' language, 'white lot' and thimble and slang.
Knight of the thimble,
subs. phr. (common).—A tailor:
see Trades.
1838. Grant, Sketches in London, iii. 119. You'll do what, sir? observed the Man with the Mackintosh, eyeing the knight of the thimble steadily.
Thimbled, adj. (old).—Arrested;
laid by the heels (Bee).
Thimble and bodkin army,
subs. phr. (old).—The Parliamentary
Army: in contempt.
1884. Dowell, Taxes in England, ii. 3. The nobles [were] profuse in their contributions of plate for the service of the king at Oxford, while on the parliamentary side the subscriptions of silver offerings included even such little personal articles as those that suggested the term the Thimble and Bodkin army.
Thimbleful, subs. (old).—-A small
quantity; as much as may be
contained in a thimble: spec. a
dram of spirits.
1690. Dryden, Amphityron, iv. 1. Yes, and measure for measure . . . a thimblefull of gold for a thimblefull of love.
1709. Ward, Clubs (1756), 16. Refusing all Healths, each taking off his Thimblefull . . . paying . . . what himself calls for.
1886. D. Tel., 11 Sep. Had the credit of suggesting the addition of a thimbleful of Veuve Cliquot.
Thimble-pie, subs. phr. (women's).—Rapping
the head with a
thimbled ringer.
Thimble-rig, subs. (common).—A
sharping trick: a pea placed on a
table is quickly covered, in irregular
succession, by three small
cups, the operator betting against
the discovery of the pea; as this is
easily 'palmed,' a successful guess
is at the option of the sharper
and only allowed for the due
'landing' of the victim. Hence
such derivatives as thimble-rig
(or -man), thimble-rigging,
and as verb.
1835. Hook, Gilbert Gurney, vii. I will appear to know no more of you than one of the cads of the thimble-rig knows of the pea-holder.
1841. Blackwood's Mag., l. 202. Buttoners are those accomplices of thimble-riggers . . . whose duty it is to act as flat-catchers or decoys, by personating flats.
1843. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, xxxvii. Tom's evil genius did not . . . mark him out as the prey of ring-droppers, pea and thimble riggers, . . . or any of those bloodless sharpers, who are . . . better known to the police.
1851-61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, iii. 121. Then the thimble-rigger turns to the crowd, and pretends to be pushing them back, and one of the confederates, who is called a 'button,' lifts up one of the thimbles with a pea under it, and laughs to those around, as much as to say, 'We've found it out.' Abridged.]
