>On a side note, the term "wide boy" is used twice in
this book. I'm
>very familiar with this term for criminals from Brit
books, but this is
>the first I've seen it in a US book. Has this slang
now become common
>usage in the US?
>
>By the way, anyone know the derivation? Wide lapels,
maybe?
>
>Mark
>
>
>
My Shorter Slang Dictionnary (UK Routledge- 1994) gives a
*possible* origin: wide-awake (= alert). The expression "wide
boy" is in use since the 1930s in the UK, meaning a boy or
youg man who lives by his wits, full of shrewdness and
unscrupulousness.
Maybe some Brits of R-A could give you a better
ethymology.
E.Borgers Hard-Boiled Mysteries http://www.geocities.com/Athens/6384
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