subs. (common).—1. Humbug; GAMMON (q.v.). Also (cheap Jack’s) = professional patter.
1839. W. A. MILES, Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime, p. 106.
1884. Daily Telegraph, 8 Aug., p. 3, col. 2. That depended on what a man’s talents were, and how he purposed employing them. ‘Employing them for KIDMENT, of course,’ returned the elderly mumper. ‘That’s what talents is give a man for, hain’t it?’
2. (thieves’).—See quot.
1857. SNOWDEN, Magistrates Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 445. A pocket handkerchief pinned to the pocket for a trap—KIDMENT.
Adj. (American thieves’).—Comical.—MATSELL (1859).
