Thieves' cant
Thieves' cant is less of a language and more of an understanding. Used by criminals and rogues, it is a series of markings, behaviors, and intonations used to communicate illicit activities. An example of Thieves' cant would be walking into a bar and joining a game of poker, placing a small bet, then folding without looking at your cards. Due to its nature, communicating complex ideas can be difficult and it is better used to identify yourself, other criminals, or set up meetings and deals.
Adventurers: goodies (goodie-two-shoes heroes that usually carry a lot of “goodies” to steal)
Adventuring Thief/Rogue: rover (thieves cant for a travelling thief)
Alarm (to sound the alarm): cry beef
Bard: singy jordan (a singing spellcaster. See Wizard/Magic-User)
Bribe: grease, hush money
Brothel: academy
Building/House: Panny
Cleric: autem bawler (thieves cant for “priest”)
Crowbar: jimmy
Danger: lay
Daytime: lightmans
Dragon: ox (Cockney rhyme: Ox and Wagon)
Dragonborn: calf (since Dragon is Ox, their offspring are “calves”)
Drow: sixes (reference to Lolth’s layer of the Abyss, the 66th layer)
Druid: greenie (reference to their affinity for plants)
Dungeon: shar ken (thieves cant for “house” with the Forgotten Realms deity of dungeons, literally “Shar’s house”)
Dwarf: ironhead (for their penchant for metalwork and stubbornness)
Elf: sharp (for the pointy ears and sharp eyes)
Fiend: zeb (named for the archdevil of lying, Baalzebul. A way to remind thieves not to trust them)
Fey: cut (Cockney rhyme: fey and rogues are “cut from the same clay”)
Goblins: bugs (small, swarming, sneaking, garbage-picking creatures)
Gnoll: wiseguy (as in prankster; for their laughing hyena heads)
Gnome: jorner (shortened of “jordan-er” referring to gnomes’ affinity for magic. See Wizard/Magic-User)
Gullible Person: pigeon
Halfling: slipper (their size and natural skills make them great thieves that can “slip” away and “slip” into tight spaces)
Innkeeper: bluffer
Kobold: no-see-ums (you often find the trap before you find the kobold)
Lock Pick: dub
Man: cove
Magic (charm/mind-affecting): hazies (makes your brain hazy)
Magic (evocation): blasties (basically any big, flashy, blasty spell)
Magic (illusion): lookies (makes something look like something else)
Magic (necromancy): raisies (raising the dead) Money: rag
Murder: hush
Nighttime: darkmans
Orcs: pigs (reference to their tusks)
Paladin: earnest cove (m.)/ earnest mort (f.) (thieves cant; literally “oath-man” and “oath-woman”)
Receiver of Stolen Goods: family man
Sleight of Hand: fam lay
Steal: lift
Suspicion (to realize something is up): twig
Tavern Owner: beggar maker
Thief: angler
Thieves Guild Hideout: dive
Thieves Guild Leader: upright man
Thieves Guild Member: made man
Tiefling: forky (from the horns and barbed tail)
Undead: wake (a pun on a funerary rite and the fact that it’s alive; not asleep but a-“wake”)
Veteran Thief: old hand
Woman: mort
Wizard/Magic-User: jordan (thieves cant for "staff”)
Adventurers: goodies (goodie-two-shoes heroes that usually carry a lot of “goodies” to steal)
Adventuring Thief/Rogue: rover (thieves cant for a travelling thief)
Alarm (to sound the alarm): cry beef
Bard: singy jordan (a singing spellcaster. See Wizard/Magic-User)
Bribe: grease, hush money
Brothel: academy
Building/House: Panny
Cleric: autem bawler (thieves cant for “priest”)
Crowbar: jimmy
Danger: lay
Daytime: lightmans
Dragon: ox (Cockney rhyme: Ox and Wagon)
Dragonborn: calf (since Dragon is Ox, their offspring are “calves”)
Drow: sixes (reference to Lolth’s layer of the Abyss, the 66th layer)
Druid: greenie (reference to their affinity for plants)
Dungeon: shar ken (thieves cant for “house” with the Forgotten Realms deity of dungeons, literally “Shar’s house”)
Dwarf: ironhead (for their penchant for metalwork and stubbornness)
Elf: sharp (for the pointy ears and sharp eyes)
Fiend: zeb (named for the archdevil of lying, Baalzebul. A way to remind thieves not to trust them)
Fey: cut (Cockney rhyme: fey and rogues are “cut from the same clay”)
Goblins: bugs (small, swarming, sneaking, garbage-picking creatures)
Gnoll: wiseguy (as in prankster; for their laughing hyena heads)
Gnome: jorner (shortened of “jordan-er” referring to gnomes’ affinity for magic. See Wizard/Magic-User)
Gullible Person: pigeon
Halfling: slipper (their size and natural skills make them great thieves that can “slip” away and “slip” into tight spaces)
Innkeeper: bluffer
Kobold: no-see-ums (you often find the trap before you find the kobold)
Lock Pick: dub
Man: cove
Magic (charm/mind-affecting): hazies (makes your brain hazy)
Magic (evocation): blasties (basically any big, flashy, blasty spell)
Magic (illusion): lookies (makes something look like something else)
Magic (necromancy): raisies (raising the dead) Money: rag
Murder: hush
Nighttime: darkmans
Orcs: pigs (reference to their tusks)
Paladin: earnest cove (m.)/ earnest mort (f.) (thieves cant; literally “oath-man” and “oath-woman”)
Receiver of Stolen Goods: family man
Sleight of Hand: fam lay
Steal: lift
Suspicion (to realize something is up): twig
Tavern Owner: beggar maker
Thief: angler
Thieves Guild Hideout: dive
Thieves Guild Leader: upright man
Thieves Guild Member: made man
Tiefling: forky (from the horns and barbed tail)
Undead: wake (a pun on a funerary rite and the fact that it’s alive; not asleep but a-“wake”)
Veteran Thief: old hand
Woman: mort
Wizard/Magic-User: jordan (thieves cant for "staff”)
