The Long Goodbye

DROP A NICKEL, TO - To use a public call-box.


HACKIE - Taxi driver.


STINKO - Very drunk, see SPIFFLICATED


WAG - Vagrant, possibly from 'Wagging school'.


FIVE-SPOT - $5.


DOWN AT HEELS - Poor, shabby, as evidenced by worn shoe heels.


JOWETT JUPITER - British sports convertible made by Jowett Cars Ltd of Idle, near Bristol, England. Powered by a flat four 1486cc engine through a four-speed manual transmission. Produced 1950 to 1954. Terry Lennox owns one in The Long Goodbye, specifically a rust-colored model with pale leather seats.

JOWETT JUPITER

GIMLET - Cocktail drunk by Terry Lennox with Philip Marlowe. Allegedly named for Surgeon Admiral Sir Thomas Gimlette KCB (1857-1943) who added lime cordial to the daily gin tot of Royal Navy sailors to combat scurvy. As sailors were issued rum, this may be open to question. Another explanation put forward is the drink is named for the piercing tool of the same name; the piercing effect of the drink is similar. Chandler himself states in The Long Goodbye "a real gimlet is half gin and half Rose's lime juice and nothing else." This makes for rather a sickly-sweet drink and modern sources suggest two parts gin to each part of lime.

ADVERT FEATURING A GIMLET

A GIMLET: A MARVELOUS DRINK FOR A SUMMER'S EVENING (THE AUTHOR HAS GIVEN THE MATTER SERIOUS CONSIDERATION)

TERTIAN AGUE - Intermittent fever recurring every second or third day.


DINGUS - Gadget, doo-hickey.


OLD GRAND-DAD - Whiskey drunk by Philip Marlowe.

OLD GRAND-DAD ADVERT

SPIFFLICATED - See STINKO.


CONNIE - Affectionate name for Lockheed Constellation passenger aircraft. Built between 1943 and 1958.

LOCKHEED CONSTELLATION

HORSE LAUGH - Loud, raucous laugh.


CRAW FISHING - Stalling, backing out when things go wrong.


CLAM JUICE - Incentive to stay silent, especially under interrogation.


GLOMMED - Snatched.


JUDAS WINDOW - Feature in cell door.


THE BIG HOUSE - Prison, as opposed to jail.


SHOW-UP BOX - Narrow room used for line-ups, usually with graded height lines behind the suspects.


HABEUS CORPUS PROCEEDING - Civil proceeding establishing legitimacy of custody.


ACCESSORY AFTER THE FACT - Person assisting another to commit a crime.



BRASS KNUCKLES - Heavy tactics and the use thereof.

BRASS KNUCKLES

PILL - Cigarette.


RAIN CHECK - Later. Originally from the 1880's when actual tickets were issued when rain stopped play.


PIKER/PEANUT GRIFTER - Gambler who only makes small bets, a small timer.


CARD SHARP - Dishonest gambler using legerdemain to cheat.


SHARPIE - See GRIFTER.


HORSE-HOLDER - Someone used by rich or powerful person to do nothing.


JUGGED - Locked up, confined - possibly from Jugged Hare.


CARRIAGE TRADE - The upper class.


ELECTRIC EYE - Early remote movement sensor.


OLDSMOBILE CONVERTIBLE - Marlowe's car during The Long Goodbye. Probably a 1952 88 model.

1952 OLDSMOBILE 88 CONVERTIBLE (BELOW: TV COMMERCIAL FOR SAME)

BUBBLE-DANCING - Unclear; possibly dancing alone, or to be crazy.


PAGING - Finding.


PENNY ANTE - Small-time, as in playing poker for pennies.


HIGH-WIRE PERFORMER/MAIN LINER - Junkie, drug addict.


S.P.C.A./TAILWAGGERS - Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.


SCRAM - To leave suddenly.


BOILED - Drunk.


PITTSBURGH PHIL - Harry Strauss (1909-1941) hitman for Murder, Inc with 100+ murders to his name. Executed 1941.


OFF THE BEAM - To misunderstand, get something wrong.


PACHUCO - Chicano or Mexican in a zoot suit. Term dates from the 1940's to the 1950's.


RUPTURED DUCK - The Honorable Service lapel button worn by veterans. In The Long Goodbye, Eileen Wade's pendant is described as a British version of the Ruptured Duck. In reality, it is a jeweller-made 'Sweetheart brooch' copy of the Special Air Service crest.

THE U.S. 'RUPTURED DUCK'

S.A.S. 'SWEETHEART' CREST IN GOLD

PORTRAIT OF MADISON - A $5,000 bill. Named for President James Madison, Jnr, 4th U.S. President whose portrait featured on the note.

1934 'PORTRAIT OF MADISON'

TWO WAYS FROM THE JACK - In every way possible.


IN SPOTS - Now and then.


BLUEJAYS, REDBIRDS, YELLOW JACKETS AND GOOFBALLS - Street names for various pills, drugs. Bluejays refer to Sodium Amytal, Redbirds are Seconal, Yellow-Jackets Nembutal. Goofballs are barbiturate laced with benzedrine.

SODIUM AMYTAL PILLS

NEMBUTAL BOTTLE

PIGEON - Someone easy to pin a RAP on.


IVORY SOAP DEAL - A clean deal.


RIB - Practical joke.


BLACKBURN'S BOOK ON CHESS - Chess problem book written by English Master Joseph Henry Blackburne (10 December 1841 – 1 September 1924), nicknamed "The Black Death".

BLACKBURN'S GAMES OF CHESS

 

THE SPHINX; DEVILISH CHESS PROBLEM FEATURED IN THE LONG GOODBYE.

BLOW, TO - To leave.


TINKER TO EVERS TO CHANCE - A task accomplished quickly with good teamwork. Reference to legendary double-play by the Chicago Cubs.


FRAME - To put a RAP on an innocent party.


SHYSTER - Crooked or bent lawyer. Probably from Schiesser, or 'Shitter' in German.

CROSSED UP, TO BE - betrayed, double-crossed.


WRONG GEE - A bad or untrustworthy person.