subs. (American).—1. See quot. 1859. 2. (common) = a swindler, duffer, or vagabond: a generic term (1903) of contempt.
1857. New York Tribune, 13 March. The SHYSTERS or Tombs lawyers … sought to intercede for their clients; but the magistrates would listen to no appeals.
1859. BARTLETT, Dictionary of Americanisms (1889), 590, s.v. SHYSTER. A term applied to a set of men who hang about the Police Courts of New York and other large cities, and practise in them as lawyers, but who, in many cases, have never been admitted to the bar. They are men who have served as policemen, turnkeys, sheriff’s officers, or in any capacity by which they have become familiar with criminals and criminal courts.
1864. Daily Telegraph, 26 July. SHYSTER who goes to bed in his boots.
1871. DE VERE, Americanisms. This is the SHYSTER.… Ill-reputed men [who] offer their services to the new-comer, compel him to pay a fee in advance, and then—do nothing. On the contrary, they fight SHY of him, and hence they have obtained their name.
1877. W. BLACK, Green Pastures and Piccadilly, xli. They held aloof from ordinary society—looked on a prominent civic official as a mere SHYSTER—and would have nothing to do with a system of local government controlled by 30,000 bummers, loafers, and dead-beats.
1882. J. D. MCCABE, New York by Sunlight and Gaslight, xxv. 418. If the prisoner has no money the SHYSTER will take his pay out in any kind of personal property that can be pawned or sold.
1902. G. BOOTHBY, Uncle Joe’s Legacy, 98. The SHYSTER lawyer, the bigamist Henry Druford, and last but not least … the company promoter.
