Bufe Nabber: A Cant Term for Dog Stealer (1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue)

Bufe Nabber (noun)

Cant (slang): A dog stealer.

Origin: Thieves’ cant from early 19th-century England. Listed in The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose, where it is defined succinctly as “a dog stealer.”

Example: The bufe nabber prowled the alleyways, looking for unattended hounds to snatch.

Citation: Grose, Francis. The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. London: Printed for C. Chappel, 1811.

GIF Source: Visual excerpt from “Manchild” by Sabrina Carpenter. YouTube, uploaded by Sabrina Carpenter, 7 June 2025, https://youtu.be/aSugSGCC12I.

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