different between chiseler vs spiv

English

Alternative forms

• chiseller

Etymology

chisel +? -er

Noun

chiseler (plural chiselers)

1. One who uses a chisel for carving.
2. (informal) A cheat; a swindler; a con artist.
   • 1941, Groucho Marx, The Big Store (movie)

     [Of course $20,000 is too much.] Only a cheap chiseler would ask that much.

3. (informal, Ireland, 20th-century inner-city Dublin slang) A child.
   • 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses, Ch. 6

     --Reuben and the son were piking it down the quay next the river on their way to the Isle of Man boat and the young chiseller suddenly got loose and over the wall with him into the Liffey.

Synonyms

• (informal: con artist): sharper, spiv

Translations

Anagrams

• Eichlers, Reichels, Reichles

English

Etymology

Unknown

Perhaps from spiff, spiffy.

Spiv was the nickname of Henry Bagster, a Londoner arrested a number of times in 1904-6 for activities as described below, and may have been the archetype. Also possibly from Romani spiv, a sparrow as active and opportunistic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sp?v/
• Rhymes: -?v

Noun

spiv (plural spivs)

1. (Britain) A smartly dressed person who trades in illicit, black-market or stolen goods.
2. (Britain, dated) A flashy con artist, often homeless, who lives by his wits.

   Synonyms: sharper, chiseler, wide boy; see also Thesaurus:fraudster, Thesaurus:confidence trickster

3. (Britain, dated) In Scotland Yard usage, a low and common thief.
4. (Britain, dated) A slacker; one who shirks responsibility.

Quotations

• "I make no apology for attacking spivs and gamblers who did more harm to the British economy than [transport union leader] Bob Crow could achieve in his wildest Trotskyite fantasies, while paying themselves outrageous bonuses underwritten by the taxpayer." -- Vince Cable on the banking system.

Derived terms

• spivery
• spivish
• spivvy

References

Further reading

• "spiv" at World Wide Words Michael Quinion, 2001

Anagrams

• PIVs, V.I.P.s, VIPs