subs. (thieves’).—A waistcoat; said by Hotten (1864) to be a Houndsditch term, but quoted in Matsell (1859) as American.
ENGLISH SYNONYMS.—Ben; benjie; M.B. waistcoat; Charley Prescot.
FRENCH SYNONYMS.—Un gilmont (thieves’); un georget (popular: = a breast-plate); un casimir (popular); une camisole (popular: properly, a kind of petticoat-bodice worn by women); un croisant (popular).
GERMAN SYNONYMS.—Brustmalbisch; Kreuzspanne (Hanoverian); Nefesch (Ave-Lallement suggests identity with the Fischness of Zimmermann, a word said to be derived from the English ‘fashion.’ Probably, however, the true etymon is the Hebrew nephesch, in allusion to a waistcoat covering the chest and heart, the seat of life. German ladies call a scarf or shawl [which protects the same region] Seelenwärmer, i.e., a soul-warmer); Zwängerling (= fitting closely to the body; cf., Weitling, Hanoverian Weitchen, the trousers = wide).
1857. SNOWDEN, Magistrates Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 444, s.v.
1785. GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. I FANND him sweetly, I beat him heartily.
1887. W. O. TRISTRAM, in The English Illustrated Magazine, v., 228. The coachman now has recourse to all the dark arts of persuasion and the whip, FANNING them, which, in the tongue of coachmen, is whipping them.
2. (thieves’).—To feel; to handle (with a view to ascertain if a victim has anything valuable about his person). [Cf., FAM, of which it is possibly a corruption.] Also to steal from the person.
1851–61. H. MAYHEW, London Labour and the London Poor, IV., 319. Before Joe said anything to me, he had FANNED the gentleman’s pocket, i.e., had felt the pocket and knew there was a handkerchief.
QUEEN ANNE’S FAN.—See ANNE’S FAN.
