Thieves’ Cant Translator

What is Thieves’ Cant?

Cant was real. It was the secret slang of thieves, beggars and vagabonds in Britain, written down from the 1530s onward, and it worked as a code more than a language. The best-known early guide is a canting dictionary published in 1566 by a magistrate who had collected the words by questioning the vagabonds he arrested. Later, playwrights and pamphleteers of the 1600s made cant famous on stage.

These days it is mostly a thing of fantasy roleplaying, where Thieves’ Cant has become the hidden language of the thieves’ guild. A Thieves’ Cant translator is therefore halfway between history and imagination: part old rogue slang, part invented code.

How to translate English to Thieves’ Cant

Type your sentence, choose Thieves’ Cant and press Translate. The AI rewrites it as coded slang, using old cant words where it knows them and believable new ones otherwise, and the explanation works like a decoder that tells you what each coded word stands for. A pronunciation line and a speaker button come with it.

Some real examples from the old canting dictionaries: a ken is a house, a cove is a fellow, a bung is a purse, and bene bowse means good drink.

Ways to use it

Players give their characters a secret way of talking with it, writers use it for atmosphere, and it is handy for treasure hunts and puzzles for friends. For another playful style of speech, try Pirate Speak or Leetspeak.

Phrases to try in Thieves’ Cant

• Meet me at midnight behind the old tavern.Try it
• The guards are coming, hide now.Try it
• Keep quiet and keep your hands to yourself.Try it
• I have found a new way into the vault.Try it
• Do not trust the man in the red hat.Try it

Questions about the Thieves’ Cant translator

Learn more about Thieves’ Cant

• Thieves’ cant (Wikipedia)