As I have mentioned, one of the really pleasurable qualities of "Glance at New York" is that it serves as a sort of omnium-gatherum of slang of the era, quite a lot of it from the character Mose, and, presumably, an accurate representation of the Bowery Boy's distinctive cant, called Flash.
It's interesting to note that a few of Mose's phrase's read like dialect representation of an Irish accent — as an example, he says "I'll spile" for "I'll spoil" and says that he's "bilelin' over" for a fight when he means he's "boiling over."
I have gone through the script and made a list of the slang that appears there, with my best effort to define the slang, which involved pouring through old slang dictionaries, scouring old books for similar uses of the phrase, and just sussing out their meaning from context. What follows is a nearly comprehensive dictionary of the slang that appears in the play:
A dozen on the ventilator: A threat, possibly meaning "I will hit you a dozen times on the mouth," or "I will hit the person who is supposed to leave"
Ain't this high: Isn't this great
Bilelin' over: Very desirous of (boiling over)
Blinker: Black eye
Blow your horn: Sing
Bluff off: Rebuff
City pilot: Tour guide
Crib: Bar
Cross-grained: Irritable; hard to deal with
Cuttin' round: Making romantic overtures
Dog line: Confidence game involving kidnapping dogs and returning them for rewards
Dodge: Any con game
Drop game: A confidence trick in which the con artist persuades the victim to pay money for a useless item
Drubbing: Beating
Foo-foos: Newcomers; interlopers
Gallus: Terrific
Gas: Nonsense
Give fits: Beat up
His Knibbs: His royal highness (spoken of an affectedly superior person)
Hurry up your cakes: Speed up
I'm blowed: Exclamation of disbelief -- "I'm blowed if that ain't slap up!"
Lam: Thrash
Lemons: Anything worthless
Loafer fire: False alarm
Mopuss: Money
Muss: Fight
Nuff ced: Enough said
Perfect brick: Utterly fearless
Piece of calico: Woman
Plump: Fight; strike
Prig: Steal
Prime: Great; terrific
Puddin'-head: A stupid person
Run wid der machine: Be part of a volunteer fire department (literally: run alongside a pump on wheels)
Shanty: Apartment; home
Shine: Romance, perhaps from "take a shine to"
Shiner: A bright piece of money
Show the Elephant: Show off the sights of a town
Slap up: Excellent
Slope: Exit; leave
Slung to: Married to
Smack: Kiss
Smoke: Exit quickly
Smug: Steal
Sore-eye: Party ("soiree")
Spile: Spoil
Stow your gab: Shut up
Take de butt: Hold the back of a portable water pump
Ticker: Pocket watch
Trotters: Feet or legs
Tuck up: To start, very similar to "tuck into"
What a swell I will cut: What a swagger I will effect
Wipe: Handkerchief
