American (southern states) slang for an informer

Snitch?

 

Weasel

 

Snitch.

Snitches get stitches.

 

Narc.

"Stool-pigeon" if you want to sound like an old-timey gangster.

 

Yeah, I forgot about narc. Narc and snitch imply someone who got wind of the info and went to the police. People will also sometimes use the word informer, but this implies someone actively working for the police, like a plant or a mole.

We would never say grass since in the U.S. grass is something about which a snitch might snitch.

 

I think "narc" originally meant an undercover officer who is specifically investigating drugs, but over time it's semantically drifted to just mean "anyone who tattle-tales". At least that's how we used it when I was in high school.

 

This is true for my part of the country (southwest so not part of the actual south).

Snitch, narc, and rat are the common terms.

 

"You’re never too young to learn our national no-snitching policy."
~John Mulaney, some point during one of his comedy shows

Can't remember the context, but this jumps to mind immediately

I'm from Southern California, so no help to you in regards to the South, but:

Snitch is the common title. We use rat as a verb for the act (the snitch ratted us out), but I can't think of anyone actually using rat to call someone. Narc I'm aware of and it feels normal, but I've only come across it from films & television—can't recall a single usage outside of entertainment.

Snitch is the common expression for my area

 

BTW, and off-topic, I did find his other show on Netflix (New in Town), so they're both still available for viewing. It's an earlier routine, not quite as fluidly connected as the first one I watched, but his riff on the idea of getting lost in New York had me in stitches.

 

Yes, this is true. Originally it was referring to cops, but it didn't take long for it to be a reference to anyone who snitches. Snitch sounds dated to me almost, never heard it used except from older generations. Narc is far more common in the US, I'm also South enough to know it's common here too, rural areas as well. Never want to be a narc though, not a healthy lifestyle, especially out in the boonies...

 

"Rat" usually makes me think of a 50s gangster.
"Snitch" gives me thoughts of a modern uneducated gangster.
"Mole" makes me think of highly organized crime.
"Narc" seems like an everyday term for someone like that, I think it originated with hippies.

I think it would depend a little on the crime. Anything to do with drugs would almost certainly use "narc."

 

I'm not entirely sure about that, for the longest time the spelling was different too, went from "narc" in the 19th century referring to police, then later to "nark" as a much more loosely used term, to "narc" again but now refers to anyone who is an informant or a general snitch. It does heavily relate to drugs though, and can also refer to anyone who isn't "cool", meaning they don't use or approve of drugs, but not necessarily someone that will turn you in.

 

Squealer

 

Taxi! is a 1932 American pre-Code gangster film starring James Cagney and Loretta Young. The movie was directed by Roy Del Ruth.

The film includes two famous Cagney dialogues, one of which features Cagney conducting a conversation with a passenger in Yiddish, and the other when Cagney is speaking to his brother's killer through a locked closet, "Come out and take it, you dirty yellow-bellied rat, or I'll give it to you through the door!." The provenance of this sequence led to Cagney being famously misquoted as saying, "You dirty rat, you killed my brother."

 

Turncoat.

On the spectrum of sophistication, this one lies in a very pleasant middle ground, so its use will depend on the person using it.

This word would be used by a Southern American who is a distinctly Southern person, but one seeking to appear intelligent or well read, even if they are not. If you are trying to grasp Southern American patterns of speech you'll have to first understand that a lack of vocabulary on their part breeds the dominance of language based on locally cultural, shared imagery. Simile and metaphorical imagery is the key.

A phrase like "turncoat" satisfies such hot buttons. But it is an older phrase, so it depends on the time frame. If you wished to use this phrase for a character living some time ago, it would sound natural. If it's a character living in modern time, you can still use it, as long as you wanted to portray the character as someone who has done some reading in his life and feels the need in that moment to be somewhat poetic.

 

Howdy there! I noticed you wanted to talk 'bout the Deep South and the way we speak! Well, let this here fine Southern boy help ya out on that one, Moosie. Take a seat right here and listen up!

Here in the Deep South, we'd say, "You don' need to worry 'bout Jimmy. He ain't no snitch."

In the typical Southern accent, we use double-negatives. For...some reason. It drives me crazy.
"Don't do this no more."/"I ain't got no problem wi' that." for example.
Your is "Yer"

Example: "Yer mama is a snitch, Jimmy! Ain't that the dad-gum truth!"

For older Southern men (and we're talking really old -- like they were alive when Harry S. Truman was president), they might say "dad-gum" like "That dad-gum snitch!"

Not sure how it varies between communities (ala, white vs. black), so keep that in mind.

 

To be honest, it wouldn't surprise me. We're pretty paranoid about the 'big bad guv'ment' interfering with our affairs (we're weird, all right?) So I could see him soliciting moonshine. Just because it's illegal doesn't mean people don't do it -- and considering Jimmy has no love for the Feds, he'd probably do it.

 

Thought I'd add my two cents to this. I'm not sure about how much "running" is involved with the moonshine, but there is still a difference between the "moonshine" that they have started bottling for sale in stores, and the real moonshine that is made in the appalachian hills for example (I live close enough to know, but still have not dared try any ). Out in the country, I'm sure it's still sold and traded between neighbors and friends, but it's far more low-key than it was back in prohibition times. THere's not as much money in it by far, and not really worth the trouble of getting caught by selling it to someone you don't know too well. It's also not like the feds are going to crack down as heavily on it, or bother going up to get someone brewing it on their property unless it's become a serious problem. There's also a lot of baptists, and while they're all closet alcoholics, they don't like people to know they drink. Some TV show I saw recently made a big deal of moonshine still coming out of the hills and making its way to common drug dealers, but it's honestly a bit over-dramatized. Hell, you're far more likely to see heroin than moonshine. I'm sure it happens occasionally, but it's very rare, and more for a specific buyer who just has an interest and knows someone who makes it. It's also extremely dangerous if you aren't careful, stuff can blind you, or so I hear.

I honestly think heroin is far more likely in Southern states, it's a serious problem, and a lot of people are hooked on it, especially in the hills where you'd find moonshine anyway. They'd forgo the booze and grab the heroin, far more in demand and can turn a much quicker profit. Sad, but true.