pickpocket n : a thief who steals from the pockets or purses of others in public places [syn: cutpurse, dip]

English

Noun

1. One who steals from the pocket of a passerby. Usually using sleight of hand as a means.

Translations

• Dutch: gauwdief
• Finnish: taskuvaras
• German: Taschendieb
• Italian: borseggiatore
• Latin: manticulator
• Macedonian: џепчија (džepčija)
• Polish: kieszonkowiec
• Slovene: žepar , žeparka
• Spanish: carterista
• Swedish: ficktjuv
• Turkish: kapkaççı

This article is about the crime. For the Robert Bresson film, see Pickpocket (film)''.

Picking pockets without a persons knowledge or approval of you picking their pocket is a crime, a form of larceny which involves the stealing of money and valuables from the person of a victim without their noticing the theft at the time. It requires considerable dexterity and a knack for misdirection. Someone who picks pockets is known as a pickpocket.

Pickpockets and other thieves, especially those working in teams, sometimes apply distraction, such as asking a question or bumping into the victim. These distractions sometimes require sleight of hand, speed, misdirection and other types of skills.

The crime used to be punishable by death—even though public hangings were considered prime targets for pickpockets. William Shakespeare referenced this in his play The Winter's Tale, where the rogue and pickpocket Autolycus observes,

... every lane's end, every shop, church, session,

hanging, yields a careful man work.

Famous fictional pickpockets include The Artful Dodger and Fagin, characters from the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist. Famous true-life pickpockets include the Irish-American prostitute Chicago May, who was profiled in the books Chicago May, Queen of the Blackmailers and Hell Hath No Fury: Famous Women in Crime.

Pickpocket skills are also used by magicians, either to take an item from a spectator or to return it without their knowledge.

Further reading

• Avadon, David. Cutting Up Touches: A Brief History of Pockets and the People Who Pick Them. Chicago: Squash Publishing, 2007. ISBN 0974468169. About the history of theatrical pickpocketing.
• Columb, Frank. Chicago May, Queen of the Blackmailers. Cambridge: Evod Academic Publishing Co., 1999.
• King, Betty Nygaard. Hell Hath No Fury: Famous Women in Crime. Ottawa: Borealis Press, 2001. ISBN 0888872623, ISBN 088887264X.

External links

• Howstuffworks.com - Pickpocketing
• The Man of Steal: International Comedy Pickpocket—a video of a pickpocket entertainer
• Videoclip of pickpocket comedian Michael Halvarson, the Cirque du Soleil lead clown character
• Video of Bob Arnoflipping some one off , The World's Fastest Pickpocket