namous

English

Alternative forms

• nammous, nammus, nommous, nommus, namase (rare)

Etymology

UK 19th century. Probably from Spanish vamos (“we go”) or vámonos (“let's go”). Possibly influenced by German nehmen (“to take”). Cognate with English vamoose. Possibly backslang from summon.

Verb

namous (third-person singular simple present namouses, present participle namousing, simple past and past participle namoused)

1. (obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) To run away; to leave; to depart.
   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:namous.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:flee or Thesaurus:leave

Interjection

namous!

1. (obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) Look out! Beware!
   • 1851, Henry Mayhew, “Gambling of Costermongers”, in London Labour and the London Poor‎^[1], volume 1, page 17:

     One boy (of the party) is always on the look out, and even if a stranger should advance, the cry is given of "Namous" or "Kool Eslop." Instantly the money is whipped-up and pocketed, and the boys stand chattering and laughing together.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:heads up

References

• John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary
• John S[tephen] Farmer; W[illiam] E[rnest] Henley, compilers (1902) “namous”, in Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present. […], volume V, [London: […] Harrison and Sons] […], →OCLC, page 12.
• Eric Partridge (1949) A Dictionary of the Underworld, London: Macmillan Co.

Anagrams

• samoun