spivs
Sharp-dressed black-marketeers
Spivs is the plural of spiv, British slang for a man who makes money through petty swindles or black-market dealing, typically while dressing flashily and avoiding honest work.
The term peaked during and after World War II, when rationing created opportunities for such operators: The spivs were selling nylons and American cigarettes out of suitcases.
Organized crime participants
- profiteersThose gaining from hardship
- dealersThose who sell merchandise
- smugglersIllegal goods transporters
- fencesBoundary structures around yards
touts · hustlers · traffickers · bootleggers · contraband · ration books · coupons · nylons
London working-class dialect
- chancerUnscrupulous risk-taker
- wheeler-dealerAggressive, scheming dealmaker
- fly-by-nightUnreliable and transient
- shadyDisreputable or sun-blocked
dodgy · streetwise · market stall · barrow boy · East End · postwar · austerity · rationing
racketeers
Organized crime participants
- profiteersThose gaining from hardship
- dealersThose who sell merchandise
- smugglersIllegal goods transporters
fences · touts · hustlers · traffickers · bootleggers · contraband · ration books · coupons · nylons · petrol
cockney
London working-class dialect
- chancerUnscrupulous risk-taker
- wheeler-dealerAggressive, scheming dealmaker
- fly-by-nightUnreliable and transient
shady · dodgy · streetwise · market stall · barrow boy · East End · postwar · austerity · rationing · 1940s
flashy
Showy, often tastelessly so
gaudy · ostentatious · cufflinks · spats · pencil mustache · zoot suit · dandyish · showy · pomade · dapper
spivsgrafters
Cheats or tireless workers
labourers · toilers · wage earners · artisans · craftsmen
Respected, influential local figures
straight arrows · salt of the earth · gentlemen · good eggs · squares