autem diver
English
Noun
autem diver (plural autem divers)
- (idiomatic, archaic, thieves' cant) Pickpockets who practice in churches; also churchwardens and overseers of the poor.
- 1823, Anonymous, Tales of My Father, and My Friends
- “You are up to a thing or two,” said he, “and it is a pity to see a fine lad like you nailed to a stall, like a clodpole.”
“But how am I to get hold of money otherwise?”
“In the same way as I got this,” showing a handful of silver, “by turning autem diver..."
- “You are up to a thing or two,” said he, “and it is a pity to see a fine lad like you nailed to a stall, like a clodpole.”
- 1823, Anonymous, Tales of My Father, and My Friends
References
[Francis] Grose [et al.] (1811), “Autem diver”, in Lexicon Balatronicum. A Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence. […], London: Printed for C. Chappell, […], OCLC 23927885.