Glossary of 'carny' slang

For other uses, see carny (disambiguation).

A carny and his coconut shy, 2005

Carny or carnie is a slang term used in North America and, along with showie, in Australia for a carnival (funfair) employee, as well as the language they employ. A "carny" is anyone who runs a "joint" (booth), "grab joint" (food stand), game, or ride at a carnival, boardwalk or amusement park.

Etymology

The word carny is thought to have become popularized around 1931 in North America, when it was first colloquially used to describe "one who works at a carnival."^[1] The word carnival, originally meaning a "time of merrymaking before Lent," came into use circa 1549.

Carny vocabulary

See also: Parlyaree

Though these terms are traditionally part of carnival cant, a secret language, it is an ever-changing form of communication, and in large part designed to be impossible to understand by an outsider.^[2] Thus, as words are assimilated into the culture at large, they lose their function and are replaced by other more obscure or insular terms.^{[citation needed]} Most carnies no longer talk this way. However, many owners/operators and "old-timers" still use some of the classic terms. Jargon that refers to money or drugs is still used frequently.^{[citation needed]}

The British form of fairground cant is called "Parlyaree".

• Agent - Operator of a joint.
• Alibi - A technique used where the player has apparently won the game, but is denied a prize when the jointee invents a further, unforeseeable, condition of the game. For example, a player may be disqualified on the grounds of having leaned over a previously undisclosed "foul line."
• Bally - A free performance intended to attract both tips and visitors to the nearby sideshow.
• Blow Off - Rush of customers out of an exhibition.
• Bone yard - Place at which employees stay when not working.
• Burn the lot - To cheat players with little or no attempt to conceal the subterfuge, in the carny's expectation that the same town will not be visited again.
• Butcher - A carnie that will take every penny from a mark by confusing him and then forcing him to pay
• Call - The act of yelling out slogans and interacting with passers-by to attract business.
• Carny Barker - A guy standing outside the tent touting for business.
• Donniker (Honeypot) - Bathroom
• Flat - A game that is rigged to prevent wins. Illegal in most US states.
• Flash - To stock a "joint" with prizes to make it look "flashy" or ready for business.
• Forty Miler - A greenie who is willing to travel, but only short distances from their home base. Also used to describe anyone or anything that is perceived to be fake or phony.
• Gaff - To rig a game so as to make it unwinnable
• Genny (pronounced "jenny") - A huge generator that powers some or all of the midway
• Green Help - Employees hired at a new location that are only temporary (a.k.a. greenies).
• Hammer-Squash - Used to describe an individual as dumb or stupid (used interchangeably with Larry when used to describe a person).
• Hey, Rube! - An exclamation used to summon help by a carny in trouble, either from police or disgruntled players. The term was used as the title of a sports column written by Hunter S. Thompson for ESPN.com in his later years.
• Ikey Heyman - A wheel of fortune that can be secretly braked by the carny
• -iz or -erza - Inserted between the syllables of words to serve as a cipher or cryptolect.
• Jump - Term used to describe the period of time when the carnies tear down, drive to another location, and set up again.
• Key To The Midway - An object a carnival worker will ask a younger customer (or new initiate) for when asked for a free game or prize. The idea is that the 'mooch' will go onto the next game and ask for a "Key To The Midway", only to find out that this new carny has one, but can only give it up for some other far-fetched item. This is a form of a fool's errand. Examples of such items include: A cordless extension cord, a bacon stretcher, an underwater lighter, tack glue, a left-handed screwdriver, light bulb grease, purple fuzzy tape, glass hammer, etc. The idea is to have fun at the customer's naïveté. It is said that the Ferris wheel has been known to be called the key to the midway, as no proper midway should be without one. Others call the Jenny the key, as it is traditionally the first thing encountered when entering the midway. The Ferris wheel is sometimes called the "calling card", a title which can be applied to any high ride which is visible from long distances. A Merry-Go-Round or Carousel is also known as the key to the midway by some shows, as it is usually in the center of the midway.
• The Kitty - Budgeted amount of finance, regulated by the management of a carnival for purchasing food and supplies for its workers. ("We wanted a new tent, but there's no more scratch in the kitty.")
• Larry - Defective
• Loc(ation) - Location of a joint or ride as determined by the carnival manager. Usually laid out before set-up.
• Lot - The lot is the carnival midway area where the rides and "joints" are set up
• Lot Lizard - Describes a carny (usually female) who has multiple sexual partners (also carnys), or one who tends to "sleep-around" or cheat with other carnies on the lot.
• Mark - A customer that spends a lot of money trying to win a game. This term was coined because carnies would alert each other to the big spender by marking him some way (usually by patting them on the shoulder with powdered chalk in hand).
• Midway - Usually refers to the area of the carnival where the rides are located. Can also be used as a more general term to encompass the entire carnival.
• Money
  • ace ($1)
  • deuce ($2)
  • fin ($5)
  • sawbuck/saw ($10)
  • double ($20)
  • half-yard ($50)
  • yard or c-note ($100)
  • rod or d-note ($500)
  • large or K ($1000)
• Mooch - Same as a Mark.
• New - An insult used by carnies, against carnies (newbie). Used in instances where a carnival worker should know better, with the insulter asking "What are you, new?"
• The Nut - The sum total (in cash) of a performance, or group of performances. The nut (or kernel) is also sometimes used to refer to the basic operating expense of the joint (including the "patch"). To "make your nut" is to break even, anything beyond that is profit (or tip). Historically, the 'nut' is thought to refer to the wheels of a wagon or carriage; when a carnival or circus set up in a town, officials would take a nut from the carriage wheel to prevent the performers from leaving without settling outstanding bills.
• Oats - Stolen money from a concession.
• Patch money - Money used to induce police officers to turn a blind eye. Also known as juice or ice.
• Plush - Stuffed animals to be given away as prizes
• Poke - The Mark's wallet is known as their Poke. When a carnie tries to see how much is in a mark's wallet he will "Peek his poke"
• Possum belly (sometimes possum gut) - Compartment under a truck or trailer
• Possum belly queen or PBQ - Same as Lot Lizard.
• Press - A refill on change, typically a bag containing $100.00-$500.00 in quarters to be exchanged for paper money with customers for games like Skee Ball or Skill Dozers.
• Ride jock (or jockey) - Someone who operates the carnival rides (vs. jointee).
• Rousty or Roustabout - A temporary or full-time laborer who helps pitch concessions and assemble rides. In the 1930s, American roustabouts would work for a meal and perhaps a tent to share with other workers.
• Scratch - The revenue from a concession, or money in general.
• Score - Any scratch won by any means, fair or foul.
• Sharpie - The opposite of a mark: an experienced player who is wise to traditional carny scams and is skilled at the games themselves.
• Shill (or outside man) - An employee who pretends to be a casual player sometimes pretending to win big prizes in order to make the game seem easily winnable. Shills may also stroll the fairground holding a large plush (stuffed animal) bragging about how easy it was to win it. Shills may also rush into ticket lines for sideshows or be the first to buy products for sale so that onlookers will feel less reluctant to do the same.
• Slough – To tear down an entire carnival to get ready for the jump to new town.
• Slum - small cheap stock
• Speak the language - Used as a test to see if someone is really "with it". Many carnies "qualify" outsiders by using the jargon. A string of jargon or carny-talk is spoken to determine if the other person understands. A person who fails the test is said to "not speak the language", indicating "newness". A newbie who is good or looks promising might be said to not speak the language yet, which is more complimentary.
• Spinning/flying Jenny or Jinny - Carnie slang for merry-go-round.^[3]
• Splinter Head - Agent that works in any "game" joint, usually all "joints" are made of wood.
• Spring - Open the carnival.
• Stick Joint - Homemade wooden or metal booth.
• Stock- Game prizes
• Straight - A game that is played by the rules
• Sugar Shack - A concession or food-stand that sells cotton candy and other sugary treats.
• Store - Can mean any joint, but is usually used to refer to a "straight store" where there's a winner every time. The store is basically selling stock, usually slum, for a handsome profit.
• Tear down - Dismantling the rides and games so they can be transported to another location.
• Tip - Generally has two meanings, depending on context. Old-timers usually mean the crowd that gathers around a caller or mike-man to hear the spiel before the start of the next show, or the crowd that hangs around a joint, watching others play. A more general meaning is any scratch the agent wins from his game as in "I just won a real nice tip from that last mark".
• Two-Way Joint - A game that can be quickly converted from a fixed, unwinnable game into a temporarily honest one when police officers come by.
• With it - A carny, to identify one another, as in "I'm with it", or "Are you with it"? (With the show).

Usage in popular culture

• In Joe Dirt, the 2001 redneck comedy starring David Spade, the title character works as a "ride jock" for part of the film.
• The fourth season of Heroes features several characters that live and work in a traveling carnival.
• The HBO dramatic television series Carnivàle is a supernatural period drama set in the United States during the Great Depression, telling the story of a traveling carnival in the Dust Bowl with an overarching story about the battle between good and evil as well as the struggle between free will and destiny.
• Carny is a 1980 movie directed by Robert Kaylor and starring Gary Busey, Jodie Foster, Robbie Robertson, and Meg Foster. The film has become a cult favorite.^{[citation needed]}
• Carny^[4][5][6] is a psychedelic blues band from Austin, Texas formed in 2005 featuring Paul Leary, guitarist of Butthole Surfers^[7] and producer of Sublime, Meat Puppets, Reverend Horton Heat, also featuring drummer Sam McCandlessfrom the band Cold. Singer-songwriter Formica Iglesia, on vocals, fronts the band.
• Carnies is a 2007 movie directed by Brian Corder and starring Chris Staviski, Doug Jones, Reggie Bannister, and Lee Perkins.
• Much of the fiction of pulp writer Fredric Brown features carnies and touches on carnival life, in particular the Ed and Am Hunter mysteries, beginning with The Fabulous Clipjoint in 1947.
• Nightmare Alley is a 1947 movie starring Tyrone Power and directed by Edmund Goulding, adapted from the novel of the same name by William Lindsay Gresham, which chronicles the rise and fall of a carny con man.
• Gun Crazy, a 1949 film directed by Joseph H. Lewis, stars Peggy Cummins as Annie Laurie Starr, a trick-shot artist in a carnival.
• In Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, the protagonist Michael spends some time living with carnies.
• In Theodore Sturgeon's novel The Dreaming Jewels, the hero flees with carnies to escape a brutal father. The head carny collects unusual people because he has discovered strange jewels that create people as works of art. Sturgeon himself worked as a carny for a time.
• Barry Longyear's Circus World books Circus World, City of Baraboo and Elephant Song are science fiction the premise of which is a planet populated by the descendants of a crashed space-going circus, with preserved and evolved carny culture elements including performance as a means of barter.
• Tattoo of a Naked Lady is a novel by ex-carny Randy Everhard that depicts the freak show of American sexuality.
• In the 1988 movie Two Moon Junction, Richard Tyson plays a carny who falls in love with a rich, southern socialite (Sherilyn Fenn).
• An episode of the animated series Fairly Oddparents depicts Timmy Turner going to a carnival and joining with the carnies there. He eventually becomes too good, leading the carnies to try to get rid of him "Carny-style!". Later, it is revealed that they are all fairies in disguise (except for the crocodile Carny).
• In the The Simpsons episode "Bart Carny", Bart Simpson and Homer Simpson are forced to work as carnies after Bart destroys Hitler's car. After failing to bribe Police Chief Chief Wiggum, the ring toss game that they are fraudulently running is shut down. Throughout the episode, various carny jargon is used. One of the carnies is voiced by Jim Varney.
• Former WWE wrestler Kizarny had the gimmick of a carny, including speaking with "iz" inserted into the middle of everything he says.
• Former SiriusXM Satellite radio host Bubba the Love Sponge and his crew (Hulk Hogan included) use carny slang in broadcasts
• The Dean Koontz novels Twilight Eyes and The Funhouse are set in a carny milieu.
• "The Carny" is also a song from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds on the album Your Funeral... My Trial.
• The Joni Mitchell song "That Song About The Midway" depicted the singer falling in love with a carny and following the show from town to town.
• Carnival Games (known in Europe as Carnival: Funfair Games) is a video game made for the NintendoWii and Nintendo DS featuring a carny who helps to present and explain gameplay.
• In The Jerk, actor Steve Martin joins a traveling carnival, working as a weight guesser. He points out to his boss that his stock is worthless, aka "slum", and dates a "lot lizard".
• Many Carny words are still used by professional wrestlers today, e.g. mark, work, snozz, et al. Pro wrestling originated in the carnivals of the 19th and early 20th century where wrestlers not wanting to face regular injury and wanting to make bouts more entertaining would 'stage' their fights. Carny language was used to disguise the staged nature of the bouts with all involved keeping "kayfabe" or protecting the secret. When wrestling became an event in itself and left the carnivals the language came with it. British wrestlers up the 1970s used polari words in the same manner but this died out in favor of the carny equivalent words when wrestling became 'sports entertainment'.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Gypsy
• Mardi Gras

References

1. ^ "Definition of carny". Merriam-Webster Online. http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/Carnie. Retrieved 2007-11-06. 
2. ^ http://goodmagic.com/carny/ciazarn.htm Carny
3. ^ "Do You Speak American. Track that Word!". Public Broadcasting Service. http://www.pbs.org/speak/words/trackthatword/ttw/?i=1210. "1945 Sat. Eve. Post 9 June 17/3, Today, the carousel, or "flying jinny " as she is known in the trade" 
4. ^ [1]
5. ^ [2]
6. ^ [3]
7. ^ [4]

External links

• [5]
• CBC Archives - A 1971 look at Conkin Shows.
• Diary of a Carny A popular carny blog by Kevin Morra containing stories of the road, insights etc.
• Dictionary of Carnival and Sideshow Slang