Bodenheim slang of the day: Four-flusher

February 16, 2010
Four-flusher: An unreliable person; a boaster; a welcher; a piker; one who poses for effect; one who pretends to have and has not; a bluffer; a braggart. (From Criminal Slang: The Vernacular of the Underworld Lingo, 1949)

"Well, I'm not going to be here all my life," he said. "I'm just waiting for a better chance to come along. You know I've always treated you decent, Sel, you know that, and if you stick to me you'll never be sorry about it. I can't make a break with Pete now, not until I get another prospect, but when I do I'll tell him to go to hell. You're too good a girl to be taking orders from that four-flusher, and you know it as well as I do."

(From Crazy Man by Maxwell Bodenheim, 1924, Harcourt, Brace)