Chicago Lightning is a romantic suspense novel that begins with the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in Chicago on February 14, 1929 and ends around midnight two days later in Five Points, New York City.
Release Date – February 10, 2021
21 Days of Chicago Lightning – January 25th through February 14th (and possibly a few days beyond).
Here is a list of the 1920s-era slang I incorporated into Chicago Lightning.
- Babe – woman
- Beef – gripe, complaint
- Blow a gasket – really angry
- Boiler – car
- Bracelets – handcuffs
- Broderick – good hard beating
- C note – $100 bill
- Catch the drift – figure out what’s going on
- Chicago lightning – gunfire
- Chopper squad – men with machine guns
- Come clean – tell the truth
- Cup of joe – cup of coffee
- Dago – derogatory term for person of Italian descent
- Dizzy Dame – goofy woman; silly girl
- Doll – woman; girl
- Don’t give me that line. – Don’t lie. Don’t feed me a story.
- Dumb Dora – air-headed female
- Easy as cake – no problem, simple
- Good egg – okay sort of guy
- Grabbing air – hands up during an arrest
- Grand – $1000
- Hard-boiled – tough guy
- Hinky – suspicious
- It’s all silk. – It’s all good.; It’s okay.
- Jerked a nod – nodded toward something
- Jingle-brained – addled; crazy
- John – toilet
- Keen – agreeable; appealing
- Keep trap shut/shut trap – keep quiet, not saying anything; keep mouth closed; don’t talk
- Know from nothing – no one will know; I don’t know anything
- Lay off – back off; let it alone
- Let’s blow. – Let’s go.; Let’s leave.
- Mic – derogatory term for a person of Irish descent
- Mohaska – gun
- Namby-pamby – sissy; don’t be a sissy
- Nance-boys – sissy boys
- Nippers – handcuffs
- On the QT – short for quiet
- Packing heat – carrying a gun
- Pansy ass daisy – sissy of monumental proportions
- Patsy – person easily conned or duped; not very smart
- Pinched – caught; captured
- Playing them for suckers – conning someone; using someone as an easy target to manipulate
- Puss – face; particularly a woman’s face
- Put the screws on/to – question, get tough with
- Quiff – slut
- Ratted-out – tattled on; revealed
- Sap – blackjack or a gullible person
- Shiv – knife aka flick-knife
- Simoleans – dollars
- Simpatico – in agreement
- Take for a ride – take someone out in a deserted area and kill him/her
- Tell it to Sweeney – Tell someone who cares
- To go south – something goes wrong
- What’s the grift? – What’s going on? What are you tying to pull?
Until next time,
Kaye Spencer
Day 1 – Jan. 25th – Chicago Lightning – book video
Day 2 – Jan. 26th – Popular Songs of the 1920s
Day 3 – Jan. 27th – Notable Events of the 1920s – 1920 through 1924
Day 4 – Jan. 28th – Notable Events of the 1920s – 1925 through 1929
Day 5 – Jan. 29th – Chapter 1 Micro Excerpt
Day 6 – Jan. 30th – Slang – 1920s era
Day 7 – Jan. 31st – Pre-order
Day 8 – Feb. 1st – 1920s Kitchen
Day 9 – Feb. 2nd – ‘Roaring 20s’
Day 10 – Feb. 3rd – Chapter 2 – Micro Excerpt #2
Day 11 – Feb. 4th – 4 Roaring Twenties Movies
Day 12 – Feb. 5th – 1928 Phantom 1 Rolls-Royce
Day 13 – Feb. 6th – Speakeasy
Day 14 – Feb. 7th – Chapter 2 – Micro Excerpt #3
Day 15 – Feb. 8th – Pre-FBI – brief history
Day 16 – Feb. 9th – 1920s radio
Day 17 – Feb. 10th – Release Day, Micro Excerpt #4, and bullet resistant clothing
Day 18 – Feb. 11th – “The Hedge”
Day 19 – Feb. 12th – What did it cost? 1925-1929
Day 20 – Feb. 13th – Hello? Who’s calling?
Day 21 – Feb. 14th – 1920s reference books and book video
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