The human touch.
Dear Word Detective: What does “grifter” mean? I hear it often but it’s not in any dictionary. — Debbie W.
Um, exactly how often do you hear “grifter”? I ask only because I almost never hear it, and while that may be because I swore off television last year, I’m worried that hearing the word “grifter” too often bespeaks an unhealthy environment, unless one works for the FBI. On the other hand, if you worked for the FBI, you’d know what “grifter” means.
A “grifter,” simply put, is a con artist, a swindler, a petty criminal who runs scams, schemes and flim-flams on unsuspecting “marks” (con artist lingo for victims). Often a grifter exploits human weaknesses and vulnerabilities, especially greed and loneliness, to extract money from the mark, and does it with a routine so convincing that the police frequently have a hard time convincing the mark that he or she has been the victim of a crime. The categories of “con artist,” “swindler” and “grifter” are not precise and overlap, but generally a “grifter” tries to forge a personal relationship with the victim and then extracts loans and other expensive favors. A case a few years ago in New York City made headlines when a “mother and son grifter team” lost control of their scheme and murdered their victim, an elderly society heiress.
“Grifter” is an American invention, dating back to the early 20th century, but appears to be based on the slightly older slang term “grafter,” also meaning “swindler,” “con man” or simply “thief.” Some authorities believe that “grifter” is actually a combination of “grafter” and “drifter,” reflecting the rootless, peripatetic nature of many grifters’ lives.
“Grafter,” in turn, comes from the noun “graft,” meaning, as the Oxford English Dictionary defines it, “the obtaining of profit or advantage by dishonest or shady means; the means by which such gains are made, especially bribery, blackmail, or the abuse of a position of power or influence.” If “graft” sounds familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen it in the all-too-common phrase “graft and corruption” applied to crooked politicians. The roots of “graft” in this sense are uncertain, but it may be based on an old British slang use of “graft” to mean “dig” or “work,” based on the same root that gave us “grave.”
In Britain a ‘grafter’ is a term used for someone who works hard.
well this is not Britain this is America where half of the people speak English so who cares what grafter means in Britain. But you are right grifters do work hard so i can see how that would fit them.
I think people are asking about grifters b/c of the tv show leverage
Chino – that’s a bit harsh!
Grafter in the UK is a common term to describe a hard working person, terms often change from generation to generation our language would never evolve if they didn’t, there are many case where a term meaning one thing suddenly (or gradually) means a completely knew thing. For instance, the term ‘Gay’ in Enid Blyton’s children’s stories means ‘happy’, however as does ‘Queer’ in use in the 1940′s Britain meant ‘funny’, whereas today both are homosexual references.
There are many many examples of this, and to finish off ‘This is not Britain it is America’ is an amazingly blind comment… ‘This’ is the internet, currently it is my living room in the UK, when you read this page, it will be America, the internet is everywhere and nowhere, it’s a bit sad that you limit yourself and you language to your immediate surroundings…
Chino, you are aware that English is also spoken in Britain?
I cannot believe Chino’s statement. “Well, this is not Britain, this is America where half the people speak English. That the deuce does he think they speak in Britain (i.e. England) And NO the majority of people in the United States do not speak proper English, but a bastardized form.
English is spoken in Britain, also known as England. The English language is actually quite hard to understand in many States in America. I was born and raised in New England. Massachusetts North Shore, Beverly, across the bridge from Salem. I have always had trouble understanding and being understood when ever I ventured out of that part of our country. I believe Grifter is an old word that really isn’t used much now. However, it does mean scam artist, con artist. A Grafter, I personally have never heard. Interesting translation.
I am so tired of linguistic prejudice. English is spoken all over the world, and that ought not be a matter for blind bigotry, but enjoyment of the variety as we enjoy flowers not all being colored yellow.