Sharper
A sharper is an older term, common since the seventeenth-century, for thieves who use trickery to part an owner with his or her money possessions. Sharpers vary from what are now known as con-men by virtue of the simplicity of their cons, which often were impromptu, rather than carefully orchestrated, though those certainly happened as well. The 1737 Dictionary of Thieving Slang defines a sharper as "A Cheat, One who lives by his wits." In the nineteenth century, and into today, the term is more closely associated with gambling.
Read more about Sharper.
Famous quotes containing the word sharper:
“How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is
To have a thankless child.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The greater the decrease in the social significance of an art form, the sharper the distinction between criticism and enjoyment by the public. The conventional is uncritically enjoyed, and the truly new is criticized with aversion.”
—Walter Benjamin (1892–1940)
“Slander,
Whose sting is sharper than the sword’s.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)