Private dick - definition of Private dick by The Free Dictionary Private dick - definition of Private dick by The Free Dictionary Related to Private dick: private investigator , gumshoe private investigator n. Abbr. PI A person privately hired to do investigative or detective work. Also called private detective, private eye. ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend: inquiry agent - a private detective store detective - a private detective employed by a merchant to stop pilferage Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us , add a link to this page, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content . Link to this page: References in periodicals archive ? Beckett is seen saying, "I'm just girl, looking for a private dick. OUT ON DVD Not half as irritating, though, as the front and back cover, which together show the private dick looking over a garden fence at a smug-looking man holding a little boy and an even smugger woman holding a little girl in a happy-family-style pose.

Books: ROMANTIC COMEDY American cinemas have recently unspooled a matchless string of LGBT films and characters: Val Kilmer's no-nonsense private dick Gay Perry in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang; Gary Beach and Roger Bart's all-nonsense theater queens in The Producers; the AIDS-stricken, pansexual bohemians of Rent; popcorny genre fare like Eating Out and D. CHARACTER CONVENTIONS :: Starkey'sEnglishExtension Starkey'sEnglishExtension CHARACTER CONVENTIONS 07/11/2013 09:52 The characters in 'Harry Lavender' are in many ways typical of those found in most detective yarns.The central character is the Private Investigator who is the focus of the novel's action. There is a victim (or victims) who is usually an innocent bystander and there is a host of villains ranging from petty crims to multinational meglomaniacs. STOCK DETECTIVE THRILLER CHARACTERS The PI character (also called private detective, private eye, gumshoe, private dick, sleuth, shamus).

In defining the class detective, the famous crime writer Raymond Chandler had this to say: "...down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid...He is the hero, he is everything...He must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world". There are some of the conventions of the detective hero: Male, single/divorced, independent, tough, worldly-wise. Has contacts in the criminal underclass (thieves, drug addicts, prostitutes, street people. Also knows useful professionals (doctors, lawyers, politicians, journalists) Works just outside the law in his/her investigations. May be an ex-cop or have a questionable past. Drinks hard liquor to ease his stress and is either a smoker or ex-smoker. Is an 'anti-hero' in many respects. Has some strange characteristics, like owning an old car or wearing shabby clothes. The crime boss - a faceless 'Mr Big'. Wealthy, influential. May have the 'front' of being an honest businessperson. Corrupt Officials - politicians, police, lawyers, doctors in a responsible position but with criminal involvements.

Innocent Victims - ordinary citizens who are witnesses or unfortunate bystanders who are somehow caught up in the web of murderous schemes spun by the major criminals. Thugs - the 'heavies', bodyguards and hitmen of the crime boss who do the dirty work. They are tough, two-dimensional characters who may be killed in action. Small-time criminals - pimps, bartenders, drug pushers, tattooists, bikers, 'fences' and other underworld figures who provide useful contacts for the PI's investigation. Police - often there is a cop who is on the same case as the PI but who is trying to 'do it by the book'. The cop is frustrated by the involvement of the PI and seems to be always one step behind the PI's progress. Claudia Valentine In the portrayal of Claudia Valentine, Day challenges many of the conventional about the role of the PI listed above. The most obvious of these is having a woman as the detective hero. Day is not unique in this but she uses this gender-swapping to highlight many other aspects of gender stereotyping in the detective thriller. Claudia has a relatively normal history: she has been a wife and mother but she has re-invented herself.

This means she has decided to change her whole lifestyle from being a wife and mtoher, to being a single, independent, professional woman. She has left her old self behind to invent a new life. Claudia is occasionally sentimental about her decision to leave her past (p.27-28) but she is a realist and a committed professional. Her father, Guy, was a newspaper reporter who was writing articles exposing Harry Lavender's corruption. Claudia was five when her father slipped into alcoholism. When she is recalling her own childhood fears of having an intruder in her house, she immediately thinks of her children and call her ex-husband, Gary, to reassure herself of their safety. This concern shows she still has some maternal feelings, despite the tough exterior. In order to do her job effectively, Claudia has to be heartless at times. Day highlights these moments as if to suggest Claudia is betraying the sensitivity of her gender. Claudia justifies her hard-heartedness by explaining that she is just 'doing a job. It gets a bit messy at times but then I deal with messy people' (p.151).

When she hears from old George about Robbie Macmillan's murder, she feels her distress change into a 'cold hard lump where the heart used to be' (p.121). Similarly, when Claudia is fighting with Sally in the sauna, she is disgusted at her own violence and calls herself a 'Cold hard bitch, cold hard monster' (p.151). In this scene also, Claudia describes herself as an 'Amazon. No breast, no heart' (p.160). The Amazons are a mythical tribe of warlike women who would cut off their right breasts so they could draw their bows and arrows more accurately in battle. Similarly, Claudia has severed her heart to help her 'do battle' with the corrupt forces in her city. There is evidence, though, in Claudia's relationship with the adorable Steve Angell, that she still has a heart. The detective part of her nature suspects him at one stage because he is one of only a handful of people with the expertise to be able to adjust a pacemaker. Then her doubts are wiped out simply by the soothing sounds of his voice. This romanticism is not typical of a male detective hero.

Day makes her detective different from the typical male detective in that Claudia is aware of and sometimes disgusted at her own cruelty. (See p.160). Claudia get involved in this dirty business for revenge. To get Lavender, 'for what he'd done to my father. For what he was doing to my city' (p.108). A further aspect of the typical PI that Day overturns is the use of guns. Claudia uses her legs as her weapon. Day suggests that women have skills other than brute strength or weapons to use in their work. People are 'less guarded, less wary' (p.31) with a woman, which is an obvious professional advantage. Day is realistic, though, about the practicality of relying only on womanly charm to open doors. When interviewing an unhelpful neighbour of Mark Bannister, for instance, Claudia's pleasant manner gets her nowhere (p.34). A further difference between the typcial PI hero and Claudia is that she shows some of her weaknesses.

Towards the end of the novel, when she is increasingly under pressure to find the manuscript and stay one step ahead of her enemy, Claudia mistrusts her friends and has moments of self-doubt. In common with the stereotype PI, Claudia is a hard-drinking woman. On the first page of the novel Claudia has a hang-over and on p.11 she describes her need to have a 'hair of the dog' to cure her hangover, adding that her 'little dog was the long-haired type'. She lives above a pub and she owns an old Daimler car which is typical of the unusual PI lifestyle. HARRY LAVENDER Harry Lavender is the 'Mr Big' of the novel. He does not physically appear in the story but his criminal influence underpins all the major events of the novel. By not featuring him as a visible character in the novel, Day makes him resemble a sinister force rather than an actual person. Lavender plants have a stong, sickly-sweet smell, so Harry's surname could be symbolic because the stink of his criminal influence drifts across the entire city.

Claudia says at one stage that 'everything stank of Lavender' (p.110) meaning that Lavender's influence was powerful and widespread. The first connection between the lavender plant and Harry is made early in the story when Claudia is sent a pot of lavender addressed TO MY VALENTINE. She thinks that it must be from her one night stand lover but, later, it becomes obvious that the plant is Harry's calling card, a symbolic message telling her that he is watching her movements. The fact that he is dying of cancer also becomes significant in a symbolic way because his own cancer parallels the way in which he is like a cancer in the 'body' of the city - a disease living off the healthy cells of ordinary people. We have a representation of Harry's voice in the italicised chapters. These chapters are meant to be extracts from Mark Bannister's book. These extracts tell us about Lavender's childhood as a Polish refugee, a tough childhood in which he suffered the murder of his family by the Nazis and learned to be a survivor in spired by some of the Polish freedom fighters. His language is poetic, unlike the sort of language you would normally find in a detective thriller.

SALLY VILLOS In the early parts of the novel, Sally is identified as Mark Bannister's girlfriend. We first see her in a drunken, highly emotional state as she comes to terms with Mark's death. When Claudia is investigating the doctors who operated on Mark for his pacemaker, she realises the coincidence that Dr Villos shares the same surname as Sally. She meets Sally again at the Villos' Harbod villa and Sally, nervously downing tequilas, seems very suspicious and edgy as Claudia interviews her. Later it is revealed that Sally has been following Claudia in her father's black porsche, which obviously increases Claudia's suspicion of Sally. From a wedding photograph that Sally doesn't look very much like either of her parents. She is described as being spoilt, naughty child in her manner. Sally is also portrayed as a false character because she is described as wearing a 'mask' of make-up and behaving like an actor. Claudia distrusts her and wonders 'whether they were any undigested grains of truth in this load of horse shit' (p.108) Sally has told her. It is Sally who reveals to Claudia that the computer discs containing Mark's manuscript are missing.

STEVE ANGELL Steve Angell provides the love interest in this novel. In some ways he is more like the sort of handsome hunk found in romance fiction than a character from the detective genre. He is a heart expert and this has a double meaning in the novel: he knows a lot about the medical workings of the heart but he also shows that he is an expert when it comes to romantic matters of the heart. His name has a comic-book quality to it, which suggests that he is a caricature of idealised male beauty. This is made obvious when Claudia say 'if angels had bodies they'd look like this' (p.78). There are many other references to his being an angel in his appearance and behaviour. In the traditional detective thriller features a sexy female character with whom the male detective becomes romantically involved. She is usually a two-dimensional character for whom the detective plays the role of hero or rescuer. In the character of Steve Angell, Day plays with this idea by inverting the gender stereotype - the gorgeous female is replaced by the stunning male. He is described in sexual terms from the moment Claudia lays eyes on him (p.25).

He is an 'angel' by name and in looks; but is he a devil in disguise? He reveals gradually that is 'wings were tarnished' (p.80) by his involvement in an illegal phone-tapping operation for an environementalist cause. Much later, in a moment of doubt, Claudia wonders if Steve has changed from an angel into a 'Lucifer' (p.113). Because he possesses the technical know-how needed to tamper with a pacemaker, he may have been involved in the crime. The novel ends on a 'happy ending' when Claudia arranges to spend a week with him in Queensland after this case is closed. In a conventional thriller, the male detective hero often has a 'love 'em and leave 'em attitude to the beautiful woman in the story. Notice she maintains an equal share of control of the relationship when it comes to making plans and arrangements. CAROL RAWLINS Carol is a detective who works for the Police Department, unlike Claudia who is a self-employed private investigator. She and Claudia have known each other since they were studying at university. Carol has been more ambitious than Claudia and wants to be the first femal Police Commissioner.

In most detective thrillers, there is a cop who is working on the same case as the PI. This cop plays the game by the book whereas the PI often breaks the rules a little and does things which are illegal, like breaking into an office to get information without a search warrant. In 'Harry Lavender', Carol is the straight cop character, but as a female, she has had to work harder than a man to make it to the top of this male-dominated profession (p.57). Carol is on Claudia's side but only cooperates with her as long as what Claudia does is legal. Carol lives with a woman called Noni who is a carpenter and this unconventional lifestyle is another example of Day's challenging of traditional stereotypes of men and women in the novel. Carol, because she is a professional detective, carries out her investigations by the book. Before she makes arrests, she needs proof. Whereas Claudia bases her judgments on her street-wise instincts. An example of this is when Claudia knows that Robbie has been killed by Johnny the Jumper, but Carol can't act on this information because she needs 'proof' (p.112).

Similarly, Carol can only take Sally into custody because she possesses an illegal gun (p.161). Carol despite their friendship, treats Claudia like any other suspect when she is interviewing her (p.126). She is restricted by 'the system'. THE MINOR CHARACTERS One of the characteristics of crime fiction is that the stories always present a struggle between forces of good and evil. In keeping with this aspect, the minor characters in 'Harry Lavender' fall largely into two categories: 'goodies' or 'baddies'. These characters are two-dimensional and simply serve a function in the plot. We do not get to know much about them. In male detective fiction, the detective is often aided by an 'old boys network' of influential mates in political, legal or police positions as well as a number of street-people or petty criminals who owe him favours. In 'Harry Lavender', Day toys with this idea by having Marilyn call on the 'old girls network' (p.3) to find Claudia in the first place. This is an idea which Day extends later in the novel through Carol Rawlins who, as an old university friend, is also a thread of this network.

Claudia uses the non-sexist term 'barperson' to describe the barman. These contribute to the deliberate highlighting of the issue of gender in crime fiction. Being 'politically correct'. STOCK 'GOOD GUYS' MARK BANNISTER Bannister is the typical crime fiction victim who is caught up in the web of corruption. Mark was a pawn in Harry's game. Harry uses him to write his memoirs by providing him with a computer and keeping track of him thoroughly. In effect Lavender also provides Mark with another piece of technology in the pacemaker which was built by Lavender's Hartronics Company (p.137). Like a machine, Mark's live was 'turned off' when it had served its purpose. Mark was an occasional drug user and Sally injects his dead body with heroin to make it appear that he had an overdose. Mark became greedy while writing this project and set the manuscript to a publisher in America. His death is suspicious and provides the trigger which sets the story in motion. He is a 'good' character in the sense that he was a victim of the crime boss, but he is 'bad' since it was his greed which led him to be sneaky.

BRIAN COLLIER Collier is a newspaper writer who used to work with Claudia's father, Guy Valentine. He is first mentioned in the novel on p.15 in Lavender's description of his own funeral. His function in the novel is to give Claudia some background on Harry Lavender. As a reporter it is his job to keep well informed and he reveals to Claudia that one theory about the unrest in the criminal world is that certain identities are involved in 'takeover bids' (p.90). This means that the lesser criminals are trying to take over the powerful empire of Harry Lavender. Collier warns Claudia about Johnny the Jumper and warns her to mind her own business. Brian Collier is an example of a functional character in the novel. He is a typical contact person who provides useful information to the PI in her investigations. Collier also serves another purpose. Because he was an old friend of Claudia's father, he provides an opportunity for Day to explore the fact that revenge is a strong motivation for Claudia. In the final chapter, Brian returns to perform an important and very conventional job for a character in a detective story. He acts like a revision of the complicated aspects of the story.

OTTO Otto is another of the contacts who enable Claudia to carry out her investigations effectively. As a computer expert he is invaluable to her in accessing the information in Mark's computer and decoding the passwords that Lavender lays out as clues for Claudia to follow. Otto also helps Claudia find the tracking gadget that is being used to follow her. It is implied in some of the sexual banter between him and Claudia that he is homosexual (p.34). THE LEVACKS Mr and Mrs Levack are fairly comical but very useful characters. They are neighbours who live opposite Mark Bannister's flat. Mrs Mavis Levack has been spying on Mark through binoculars and knows his routine behaviours. She is an eyewitness to his death at the computer. Mr Eddie Levack treats his wife's busybody behaviour as a joke. They are portrayed as the typical older married couple, arguing about each other's habits. To some extent, the Levacks are comical caricatures: Mavis with her hair in rollers and Eddie with his nose stuck in a newspaper. Mrs Levack reveals that Mark had often been visited by a girl with 'hair like a lion's mane (p.37), referring of course to Sally.

She describes Mark's death, saying that she saw him clutch his heart then slump down to the floor in front of the computer. She then saw Sally come into the room, rush to the bathroom then return to where Mark was lying. She also recounts the arrival of two men after Mark's death, a young man and an older one wearing driving gloves (presumably Ronny O'Toole). The other important function that Mrs Levack performs is that she provides Claudia with the letter from Mark's American Publisher telling him that his story was unsuitable for publication. This is vital information as it reveals the whereabouts of the manuscript. Mrs Levack is the simplest and most innocent of characters yet she provides the two most important pieces of evidence upon which the story hinges. Mrs Levack's character is made more believable by showing she is a keen viewer of detective shows on television. She is watching 'Murder She Wrote' when Claudia first arrives to interview her. Later on delivery of the letter her husband says she 'thinks she's Angela Lansbury' (p.147) who is the star of the show. She acts like an amateur detective.

BERNIE Like Otto, Bernie is part of the professional network of contacts that is essential to the work of the private investigator. Bernie is a public servant who presumably works for the Motor Registry Office. He helps Claudia trace the number plates of the BMW which has been tailing her (p.16). Bernie is not mentioned after the phone conversation, but we know he has provided the information for Claudia, but she reveals the BMW is registered in the name of Arthur O'Toole. This, of course, leads her to Arthur's son, Ronny. STOCK 'BAD GUYS' RONNY O'TOOLE ('JOHNNY THE JUMPER') Ronny is the unseen face behind the wheel of the BMW which has been following Claudia in her investigations since Mark's funeral. He is an ex-boxer and a small-time criminal who is ambitious to become a big-time operator. Ronny is involved in drug-smuggling using game machines to hide packets of heroin. Claudia follows him and his henchmen to the container. When Claudia's presence is discovered, Ronny could have had her killed but instead makes a phone call to his boss who apparently wanted to keep her alive.

Claudia discovers from Brian that Ronny is 'Johnny the Jumper' because of his cruel practice of jumping on his victim's legs. Harry describes Ronny as a drone (p.132) who simply had a job to fulfil but, when he tried to stray from this job, he was exterminated. THE MAORI BOUNCER This character is typical of the genre. He is the hired muscle who does the dirty work for the crime boss. DR RAYMOND VILLOS This doctor is a faceless character who performed Mark's second pacemaker operation. He is obviously corrupt because he schemed with Harry to implant the faulty pacemaker in Mark Bannister's heart. Mr and Mrs Villos provide a front of respectability for Sally to hide behind so that her true identity as Harry's daughter is kep secret.

Private Detectives and Bounty Hunters: Similarities and Differences by Colleen Collins - SavvyAuthors Private Detectives and Bounty Hunters: Similarities and Differences by Colleen Collins Oct 5, 2013 | Genre , SavvyBlog | In a recent online voting poll for the best private detective character in fiction, one of the choices was the character Stephanie Plum in author Janet Evanovich’s popular series that began with the novel One for the Money. Actually Stephanie Plum is a bounty hunter, not a private detective, but this isn’t the first time I’ve noticed people confusing the two professions. It’s easy to mix them up as both private investigators and bounty hunters perform a number of similar work tasks, which I’ll discuss later in this article. But first, let’s briefly review job descriptions and titles for these two professions. What Do Private Investigators and Bounty Hunters Do? Private investigators accept employment from clients — such as law firms, corporations and private individuals — to obtain information on crimes or civil wrongs; locate people and property; analyze the cause of accidents, fires, or injuries to persons or to property; and locate evidence to be used before a court.

Bounty hunters work on behalf of a bail bondsman to re-arrest and put into jail the bondsman’s client who has defaulted on his/her bail contract. Typically, the client has failed to appear in criminal court as promised, and a judge has signed a warrant for the client’s arrest. What Are They Called? Both occupations have a variety of titles, from the professional to the slang, with some of the latter being viewed as derogatory within that vocation. Private Investigators Having co-owned a private investigations agency for ten years, I know numerous private investigators across the U.S. Some prefer the job title professional private investigator as it adds esteem to a vocation that often gets a bad rap, thanks in part to the cynical, law-breaking private eye protagonist in early noir films. Personally, I always referred to myself as a private investigator, and sometimes a private detective (although there are some private investigators who think the word detective should be used only by those who work in law enforcement). The abbreviation P.I., for private investigator, is also commonly used by my peers. I’ve also had law firms call and request to retain the services of an operative, another term for P.I., a term that always struck me as a bit old-fashioned.

Slang terms that are commonly viewed within the profession as having negative connotations, but which are often found in movies and stories, include the following: Gumshoe Shamus Snoop On the other hand, some P.I.s like to play with these terms, using them in their businesses or related projects, including the author of this article who co-wrote the book How to Write a Dick: A Guide for Writing Fictional Sleuths. Bounty Hunters Some who work in this profession prefer the title fugitive recovery agent because the term bounty hunter to them conjures derogatory images of the old west dead or alive posters, which advertised rewards in exchange for the fugitive. More professionally accepted titles for bounty hunters include: Bail bond recovery agent Fugitive recovery officer P.I.s and Bounty Hunters: What Do They Have in Common? Private investigators and bounty hunters perform some similar tasks in their work, which is why it can be easy to confuse the two occupations. For example, both professions perform the following: Tracking people to a current residence or location (also called “skip tracing”) Conducting interviews Performing surveillances Contacting the subject After the subject is located, the P.I. or bail recovery agent might perform “legal process” (a P.I.

might serve legal papers on the non-fugitive, and a bounty hunter might serve a warrant on the fugitive). Another reason for confusion is that some professionals practice both fugitive recovery and private investigations. For example, in the old Dog the Bounty Hunter reality TV series, Dog’s good friend Bobby Brown, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is both a private investigator and a bounty hunter. Why Bounty Hunters are Unique Creatures in the Law Licensed bounty hunters, or bail bond recovery agents (BBRAs), are not law enforcement officers, but they are agents of the court. When someone is released on bail, they are technically still in custody. But if they violate the terms of the bail bond release, such as not showing up for a court date, their custody can be moved from the county jail to the BBRA. As such, a BBRA has limited authority to enter private premises where the fugitive is located, and also has the authority to use force against the fugitive to return their charge to custody. Interestingly, a BBRA working for a bail bondsman does not need any reason whatsoever to take a person who is on bail into custody — the BBRA simply makes the determination that the defendant is at risk to flee.

Private investigators, on the other hand, are governed by different regulations than BBRAs. P.I.s, Bounty Hunters and Firearms Both private investigators and bounty hunters might carry guns, although many private investigators and bounty hunters do not carry firearms. However, only bounty hunters can make arrests. In most states, in order to carry a gun on the job, a P.I. or bounty hunter needs to have a professional license in their field, with a rider for carrying a weapon and a CCW permit. Training and Licensure to be a P.I. or Bounty Hunter For both professions, there are online and on-site study programs. Requirements for becoming a private investigator or bounty hunter vary by state. Below are resources for learning more about training and licensure requirements: Colleen Collins is an award-winning author who’s written several dozen novels for Harlequin and Dorchester, as well as an indie-published mystery novel The Zen Man. She has also written three nonfiction books on private investigations, the most recent being Secrets of a Real-Life Female Private Eye.

Her books have placed first in the Colorado Gold, Romancing the Rockies, and Top of the Peak contests, and placed in the finals for the Holt Medallion, Coeur de Bois Readers Choice, Award of Excellence, More than Magic, and Romance Writers of America RITA contests. The Zen Man was a semifinalist in the Best Indie Books 2012. She’s a member of the Mystery Writers of America (MWA), Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) and Sisters in Crime. When not sleuthing, Colleen’s hanging with her husband (also her former P.I. partner who’s now a criminal defense attorney), two Rottweilers (named Jack Nicholson and Aretha Franklin), her three cats, and plotting or writing her next book. Find out more information by visiting, Colleen’s writing website or Colleen’s P.I. blog . /aacom/ - The Guide to Turnabout - Exemplar Trial File: 1467624324848.gif (197.12 KB, 256x192, 4:3, ema-confident(b).gif) Welcome to the exemplar trial!

Before the Judge calls the trial into session, there is a brief moment inside the Defendant's lobby for all characters to interact with each other. Take your time to chat with other people involved with the case, and prepare your arguments and evidence before you go in. The Bailiff will announce that the trial has started when everything is ready. Also - all the music that is played during the course of the trial is played in sync at cytu.be/r/The_Courtroom. If you would like to hear real-time music from the AA games while the trial progresses, open this in a new tab somewhere. See you inside! >>63 Certainly, your Honour. As the world knows, the von Karma family strives for perfection, and I won't let some foolishly dressed fool with foolish hair ruin it for me. My opening statement will be concise, to the point, and drive the final nail into the coffin of your poor defendant. On June the 15th, at 4:55PM, a witness happened to come across the body of one Ai Dyed lying in a bloodied heap in a secluded corner of the national park.

Police were immediately called to the scene, and the defendant was caught red-handed, covered in blood and clutching a steak knife. The case is as open-and-shut as it sounds, your Honour. The Judge >>75 Anyway. When the good Detective is done with his testimony, it's up to us to pick it apart and use whatever information he gives us to prove our case. If we want to prove that the defendant is innocent, we're going to have to prove that the fundamentals of the case are incorrect, and that the possibility of a third party or a different cause of death exists. To do that, first, we have to start by Cross-Examining Gumshoe's testimony. While we're doing that, if anything suspicious sticks out to us, we present some evidence to blow a wide hole in the Prosecution's argument, and we take that Not Guilty home with us under our belts. Got it?

Athena Cykes File: 1467627284522.gif (92.65 KB, 256x192, 4:3, gumshoe-confident(b).gif) >>[Witness Testimony]<< >Investigative Report< >1. The murder occurred at around 5PM. A nice elderly lady happened upon the murder, and called the police straight away. >2. It was a pretty gruesome sight, pal. >3. Cause of death? Looks like blunt force trauma. It's not like anything I've ever seen before. >4. Autopsy report came back with the time of death at around 4PM that same day. >5. We ran the analysis on the knife and the blood on the defendant when we caught her, and they're all a match to the victim. >6. So in short, it's gotta be her! Apollo Justice >>[CROSS-EXAMINATION]<< >Investigative Report< >1. The murder occurred at around 5PM. A nice elderly lady happened upon the murder, and called the police straight away. >2. It was a pretty gruesome sight, pal. >3.

Cause of death? Looks like blunt force trauma. It's not like anything I've ever seen before. >4. Autopsy report came back with the time of death at around 4PM that same day. >5. We ran the analysis on the knife and the blood on the defendant when we caught her, and they're all a match to the victim. >6. So in short, it's gotta be her! Apollo Justice >>140 Fine! Fine! Okay! I admit it! I wasn't actually there on the night! I just pretended I was there so that I could go home and update my blog! But it's not fair, that job works little old me to the bone. Do you know how old I am?! That kind of work is torture. It should be illegal, that's what it is. It's unfair that someone like me should be working a job like that just to get buy. Am I wrong for wanting to unwind a bit by doing what I do best? Maybe I said something I shouldn't have to the police, but what harm will that do?

I mean, the evidence is there, and whippersnappers these days don't know how to hold themselves back- Athena Cykes h2g2 - Hard Boiled Slang - Edited Entry Hard Boiled Slang Content from the guide to life, the universe and everything Hard Boiled Slang 1 Conversation Crime stories from the 1930s are filled with all sorts of colourful street slang, whether you're reading a pulp fiction mystery by Dashiell Hammett or watching a film noir classic like The Maltese Falcon or The Thin Man. While some of the slang has seeped into the modern vernacular (dame, babe, grifter), there is a lot of usage that can be puzzling to the modern reader. Maybe you want to figure out what it means when a character says, 'Let's have a look-see where the twist flops'. Maybe your impression of Humphrey Bogart or Edward G Robinson is just a little flat. Or maybe you just want the words to match your tough guy look and battered fedora. If so, this entry's for you.

This entry is designed to give all you palookas the low-down on such talk, so you won't be daunted by some of the language you encounter. This entry is just a basic introduction, and people looking for a definitive guide are encouraged to check out Twists, Slugs, and Roscoes: A Glossary of Hard Boiled Slang online. Remember, a lot of this language comes from a different time, when America was suffering through its Great Depression, fighting rising crime, enforcing Prohibition, and becoming a melting pot for immigrants from many different nations and languages. It may seem a bit crude and overly dramatic, but hard boiled fiction was trying to capture the true gritty nature of crime in the big cities. Common Terms and Phrases It wouldn't be 'hard boiled' 1 without the crime. Hence, a lot of the film noir slang describes crime and other unsavory aspects of the criminal underworld. For convenience, the terms have been grouped into loose categories (not alphabetically). This should make it easier to remember, and it is useful because many authors like to use several different slang terms for the same item 2 .

Crime and Criminals There are all sorts of criminals on the streets of the big city, but it's usually mostly the organized ones that are described in pulp fiction. A large criminal organization is usually headed by a 'boss' with several trusted 'lieutenants'. They often will have hired gunmen and other tough guys, which may be called 'brunos', 'goons', 'hatchetmen', 'torpedoes' and 'trigger men'. In addition, hired killers may also be called 'droppers' or 'button men'. Some organizations can be quite large, but a lot can be done by only a single man with a few hired guns. Sometimes, large organizations will also involve book-making operations, speak easies, lotteries, or other criminal operations. This can attract 'grifters', criminals that work by gaining the confidence of victim (called the 'mark' or 'sucker') and swindling them out of money. A woman who uses sex to do a con job is also called a 'worker'. Most grifters work alone, but some can be associated with a 'clip joint', a nightclub or gambling joint where the patrons get flimflammed.

Some crimes also involve a safe cracker, of which there are several types. A 'can opener' or 'yegg' can only open cheap safes, and a 'Peterman' uses nitroglycerine (aka 'soup'). A 'fence' resells stolen goods. Policemen and Detectives If there is one thing any good criminal fears, it's the police. When your inside man flashes you a 'buzzer' (police badge), it means the jig's up. More dangerous than the coppers on the beat, though, are the detectives. Sometimes called a 'dick', 'shamus', 'gumshoe' or 'flatfoot', the detective is the true hero of the story, unravelling the hairiest schemes and bringing bad guys to justice. Most noir detectives are privately hired investigators (working for a client and not the police) and are thus able to solve crimes in more unconventional ways but they are also potentially more corrupt (a lot seem to have drinking problems and their own history with the law).

When a criminal is caught, he's usually due for time in 'the big house' or 'hoosegow', both terms for prison if it's not named explicitly (eg, Alcatraz , Rikers Island). Usually justice is served, but sometimes a 'patsy' takes the 'rap' (an innocent man is framed for a criminal charge). This is also known as 'taking the fall'. Sometimes, a prison sentence can be avoided if one is willing to implicate others involved in the crime, but being such a 'stool pigeon' is invariably fatal, as nobody likes a 'snitch'. Weapons Violence is the true language of crime, but hard-boiled slang still has a lot of words for it. Typically, a detective will find himself threatened at first with a beating by some all-too-willing 'trouble boys'. He may also be questioned forcefully, a technique known as being 'given the third degree' or 'putting the screws on somebody'. Giving someone 'the bum's rush' is to show them the door, while a 'red-light' is a forceful ejection from an automobile (which itself could be called a 'boiler', 'bucket' and 'flivver').

A 'blackjack' or 'sap' is a small leather strap filled with metal used to quickly knock someone out. A knife might be called a 'shiv' or a 'sticker'. These sometimes send the message, but any gang that wants to command respect will be carrying firearms. Guns are everywhere in pulp fiction, and there are thus a lot of words to describe them. A gun can be a 'bean-shooter', 'gat', 'rod', or 'roscoe'. The act of carrying firearms can also be described as 'packing heat' or 'wearing iron'. Shooting someone is also known as 'drilling' or 'plugging', or by the more evocative phrases 'squirting metal', 'throwing lead', 'giving someone lead poisoning' or 'filling someone with daylight' (ie, by putting holes in them). After that, the chump usually winds up in a 'Chicago overcoat' (coffin), and hopefully people get the message you are not to be messed with. Women Although most criminals are usually men, women often appear in noir fiction, usually in form of a sarcastic secretary, a mysterious client for the detective, or a sultry nightclub singer.

Not surprisingly, there are a fair number of terms for women, often somewhat degrading 3 . A woman could be called a 'babe', 'broad', 'dame', 'doll', 'frail' or 'twist', among other terms. A really attractive women might be termed a 'dish', 'looker', or 'tomato'. Surprisingly, legs are the most cherished aspect of beauty in noir fiction 4 . So a woman's legs may be called 'gams', 'getaway sticks' or 'pins'. A person who is 'dizzy with a dame' is very much in love with a woman, sometimes at great risk to themselves, especially if she's someone else's moll. Liquor and Drugs Life is cheap on the streets, and many turn to drink to drown their sorrows. Alcohol in general is sometimes called 'booze', 'giggle juice' or 'hooch'. Sometimes, alcohol is referred to explicitly in slang, often as what it is made from (eg, 'rye' for rye whiskey or 'corn' for bourbon ) or other distinctive properties ( gin is sometimes called 'white').

During Prohibition 5 , most alcohol was made in back rooms and subsequently of low quality, hence there are references to 'rotgut' and 'bathtub gin'. This cheap liquor was often sold in a 'speak easy', a bar disguised as something else (or hidden behind an unmarked door). The act of drinking may be referred to as 'having a sniff from the bottle', 'nibbling one', or 'tipping a few'. Marijuana was known as 'juju', 'mesca', 'muggles', and 'reefer'. Other drugs are not as common in literature, but become more prominent in post-war fiction, when servicemen returned from the war as 'hop-heads' addicted to heroin. Cocaine is also sometimes referred to as 'nose candy'. Other Miscellaneous Phrases There are a few other colourful phrases that can pop up in hard boiled slang. 'Taking a powder' means to leave, in an allusion to women leaving to adjust their makeup. 'Bumping gums' is to talk about nothing useful, and a 'trip for biscuits' is a task that yields nothing useful. Having the 'bulge' on someone means you have the advantage.

A 'Chinese angle' is an unusual perspective on a situation that reveals a different insight. 1 This adjective usually describes crime stories with hard-hearted protagonists and an unflinching depiction of crime. 2 For instance, a telephone could be called an 'ameche', 'blower' and 'horn' all in the same book. 3 The 1930s were less enlightened times, and women were often appreciated only for their looks and money. 4 This may be due to censorship or the newly-discovered eroticism of mass manufactured stockings. 5 Alcoholic beverages were illegal throughout the United States from 1920 until that Constitutional Amendment was repealed in 1933. Contrary to popular hopes, prohibition didn't stop drinking, but only drove it underground, creating a tremendous new revenue source for criminal organizations in the process. Private detective - definition of private detective by The Free Dictionary Private detective - definition of private detective by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Thesaurus , Encyclopedia , Wikipedia . private detective private detective n (Law) an individual privately employed to investigate a crime, keep watch on a suspected person, or make other inquiries.

Also called: private investigator ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend: inquiry agent - a private detective store detective - a private detective employed by a merchant to stop pilferage private detective noun private investigator , detective , private eye (informal), sleuth (informal), gumshoe (U.S. & Canad.), private dick (U.S. & Canad.) She hired a private detective to search for evidence. Translations private detective private investigator n → investigatore/trice or detective m/f inv privato/a Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us , add a link to this page, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content . Link to this page: store detective References in classic literature ? The aid of the Pinkertons and of countless private detective agencies was called in, and in addition to this thousands were upon our payroll. View in context At that moment the Fynes, still at the window and watching like a pair of private detectives, saw a man with a long grey beard and a jovial face go up the steps helping himself with a thick stick, and knock at the door.

View in context But there was also about him an indescribable air which no mechanic could have acquired in the practice of his handicraft however dishonestly exercised: the air common to men who live on the vices, the follies, or the baser fears of mankind; the air of moral nihilism common to keepers of gambling hells and disorderly houses; to private detectives and inquiry agents; to drink sellers and, I should say, to the sellers of invigorating electric belts and to the inventors of patent medicines.

Question: What type of person is also called a dick, shamus, or gumshoe?
Answer: Detective