cryptolect
n. A secret language.
Etymology
Examples
2013
Historically, cryptolects have been especially prevalent among service nomads: outsiders who provide settled populations with services they lack but are nonetheless met with hostility and mistrust, such as Gypsy coppersmiths, Irish Travelers, or the Sheikh Mohammadi peddlers of Afghanistan.
—Jacob Mikanowski, “The Tongues of Rogues,” Slate, December 05, 2013
1994
Unlike modern slang the ancient cant approaches the notion of a…"cryptolect," as described by Ian Hancock. Altered by time, it retains a degree of currency in the British Isles and North America among Travelers, a traditionally itinerant people including the Roma (Gypsies) and other groups.
—J. E. Lighter, Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Volume I, Random House, June 07, 1994
1982 (earliest)
In the cryptolect of Yiddish-speaking thieves, a word for ‘prison’ is kan.
—David L. Gold, “Etymological Studies of Jewish Interest, Part 1,” Comments on Etymology Vol.XII, May 01, 1982
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