Carny or carnie is a slang

Slang

Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...

 term used in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 and, along with showie, in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 for a carnival

Carnival

Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...

 (funfair

Funfair

A funfair or simply "fair" is a small to medium sized travelling show primarily composed of stalls and other amusements. Larger fairs such as the permanent fairs of cities and seaside resorts might be called a fairground, although technically this should refer to the land where a fair is...

) employee, as well as the language

Cant (language)

A Cant is the jargon or argot of a group, often implying its use to exclude or mislead people outside the group.-Derivation in Celtic linguistics:...

 they employ. A "carny" is anyone who runs a "joint" (booth), "grab joint" (food stand), game, or ride at a carnival, boardwalk or amusement park.

Etymology

The word carny is thought to have become popularized around 1931 in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, when it was first colloquially used to describe "one who works at a carnival." The word carnival

Carnival

Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...

, originally meaning a "time of merrymaking before Lent

Lent

In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...

," came into use circa 1549.

Carny vocabulary

Though these terms are traditionally part of carnival cant

Cant (language)

A Cant is the jargon or argot of a group, often implying its use to exclude or mislead people outside the group.-Derivation in Celtic linguistics:...

, a secret language, it is an ever-changing form of communication, and in large part designed to be impossible to understand by an outsider. Thus, as words are assimilated into the culture at large, they lose their function and are replaced by other more obscure or insular terms. Most carnies no longer talk this way. However, many owners/operators and "old-timers" still use some of the classic terms. Jargon that refers to money or drugs is still used frequently.

The British form of fairground cant is called "Parlyaree".

• Agent - Operator of a joint.
• Alibi - A technique used where the player has apparently won the game, but is denied a prize when the jointee invents a further, unforeseeable, condition of the game. For example, a player may be disqualified on the grounds of having leaned over a previously undisclosed "foul line."
• Bally - A free performance intended to attract both tips and visitors to the nearby sideshow.
• Blow Off - Rush of customers out of an exhibition.
• Bone yard - Place at which employees stay when not working.
• Burn the lot - To cheat players with little or no attempt to conceal the subterfuge, in the carny's expectation that the same town will not be visited again.
• Butcher - A carnie that will take every penny from a mark by confusing him and then forcing him to pay
• Call - The act of yelling out slogans and interacting with passers-by to attract business.
• Carny Barker - A guy standing outside the tent touting for business.
• Donniker (Honeypot) - Bathroom
• Flat - A game that is rigged to prevent wins. Illegal in most US states.
• Flash - To stock a "joint" with prizes to make it look "flashy" or ready for business.
• Forty Miler - A greenie who is willing to travel, but only short distances from their home base. Also used to describe anyone or anything that is perceived to be fake or phony.
• Gaff - To rig a game so as to make it unwinnable
• Genny - A huge generator that powers some or all of the midway
• Green Help - Employees hired at a new location that are only temporary (a.k.a. greenies).
• Hammer-Squash - Used to describe an individual as dumb or stupid (used interchangeably with Larry when used to describe a person).
• Hey, Rube!
  Hey, Rube!
  "Hey, Rube!" is a slang phrase most commonly used in the United States by circus and travelling carnival workers , with origins in the middle 19th century. It is a rallying call, or a cry for help, used by carnies in a fight with outsiders...
  
  - An exclamation used to summon help by a carny in trouble, either from police or disgruntled players. The term was used as the title of a sports column written by Hunter S. Thompson
  Hunter S. Thompson
  Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 .He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to...
  
   for ESPN.com in his later years.
• Ikey Heyman - A wheel of fortune that can be secretly braked by the carny
• -iz or -erza - Inserted between the syllables of words to serve as a cipher
  Cipher
  In cryptography, a cipher is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption — a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is encipherment. In non-technical usage, a “cipher” is the same thing as a “code”; however, the concepts...
  
   or cryptolect.
• Jump - Term used to describe the period of time when the carnies tear down, drive to another location, and set up again.
• Key To The Midway - An object a carnival worker will ask a younger customer (or new initiate) for when asked for a free game or prize. The idea is that the 'mooch' will go onto the next game and ask for a "Key To The Midway", only to find out that this new carny has one, but can only give it up for some other far-fetched item. This is a form of a fool's errand
  Fool's errand
  A fool's errand may mean:*Another term for a snipe hunt, an impossible task*Fool's Errand , a novel by Robin Hobb*The Fool's Errand, a 1987 computer game*A brand of snack cracker, popular in the 1970s...
  
  . Examples of such items include: A cordless extension cord, a bacon stretcher, an underwater lighter, tack glue, a left-handed screwdriver, light bulb grease, purple fuzzy tape, glass hammer, etc. The idea is to have fun at the customer's naïveté. It is said that the Ferris wheel
  Ferris wheel
  A Ferris wheel is a nonbuilding structure consisting of a rotating upright wheel with passenger cars attached to the rim in such a way that as the wheel turns, the cars are kept upright, usually by gravity.Some of the largest and most modern Ferris wheels have cars mounted on...
  
   has been known to be called the key to the midway, as no proper midway should be without one. Others call the Jenny the key, as it is traditionally the first thing encountered when entering the midway. The Ferris wheel is sometimes called the "calling card", a title which can be applied to any high ride which is visible from long distances. A Merry-Go-Round or Carousel is also known as the key to the midway by some shows, as it is usually in the center of the midway.
• The Kitty - Budgeted amount of finance, regulated by the management of a carnival for purchasing food and supplies for its workers. ("We wanted a new tent, but there's no more scratch in the kitty.")
• Larry - Defective
• Loc(ation) - Location of a joint or ride as determined by the carnival manager. Usually laid out before set-up.
• Lot - The lot is the carnival midway area where the rides and "joints" are set up
• Lot Lizard - Describes a carny (usually female) who has multiple sexual partners (also carnys), or one who tends to "sleep-around" or cheat with other carnies on the lot.
• Mark - A customer that spends a lot of money trying to win a game. This term was coined because carnies would alert each other to the big spender by marking him some way (usually by patting them on the shoulder with powdered chalk in hand).
• Midway - Usually refers to the area of the carnival where the rides are located. Can also be used as a more general term to encompass the entire carnival.
• Money
  • ace ($1)
  • deuce ($2)
  • fin ($5)
  • sawbuck/saw ($10)
  • double ($20)
  • half-yard ($50)
  • yard or c-note ($100)
  • rod or d-note ($500)
  • large or K ($1000)
• Mooch - Same as a Mark.
• New - An insult used by carnies, against carnies (newbie). Used in instances where a carnival worker should know better, with the insulter asking "What are you, new?"
• The Nut - The sum total (in cash) of a performance, or group of performances. The nut (or kernel) is also sometimes used to refer to the basic operating expense of the joint (including the "patch"). To "make your nut" is to break even, anything beyond that is profit (or tip). Historically, the 'nut' is thought to refer to the wheels of a wagon or carriage; when a carnival or circus set up in a town, officials would take a nut from the carriage wheel to prevent the performers from leaving without settling outstanding bills.
• Oats - Stolen money from a concession.
• Patch money - Money used to induce police officers to turn a blind eye. Also known as juice or ice.
• Plush - Stuffed animals to be given away as prizes
• Poke - The Mark's wallet is known as their Poke. When a carnie tries to see how much is in a mark's wallet he will "Peek his poke"
• Possum belly (sometimes possum gut) - Compartment under a truck or trailer
• Possum belly queen or PBQ - Same as Lot Lizard.
• Press - A refill on change, typically a bag containing $100.00-$500.00 in quarters to be exchanged for paper money with customers for games like Skee Ball or Skill Dozers.
• Ride jock (or jockey) - Someone who operates the carnival rides (vs. jointee).
• Rousty or Roustabout - A temporary or full-time laborer who helps pitch concessions and assemble rides. In the 1930s, American roustabouts would work for a meal and perhaps a tent to share with other workers.
• Scratch - The revenue from a concession, or money in general.
• Score - Any scratch won by any means, fair or foul.
• Sharpie - The opposite of a mark: an experienced player who is wise to traditional carny scams and is skilled at the games themselves.
• Shill
  Shill
  A shill, plant or stooge is a person who helps a person or organization without disclosing that he or she has a close relationship with that person or organization...
  
  (or outside man) - An employee who pretends to be a casual player sometimes pretending to win big prizes in order to make the game seem easily winnable. Shills may also stroll the fairground holding a large plush (stuffed animal) bragging about how easy it was to win it. Shills may also rush into ticket lines for sideshows or be the first to buy products for sale so that onlookers will feel less reluctant to do the same.
• Slough – To tear down an entire carnival to get ready for the jump to new town.
• Slum - small cheap stock
• Speak the language - Used as a test to see if someone is really "with it". Many carnies "qualify" outsiders by using the jargon. A string of jargon or carny-talk is spoken to determine if the other person understands. A person who fails the test is said to "not speak the language", indicating "newness". A newbie who is good or looks promising might be said to not speak the language yet, which is more complimentary.
• Spinning/flying Jenny or Jinny - Carnie slang for merry-go-round.
• Splinter Head - Agent that works in any "game" joint, usually all "joints" are made of wood.
• Spring - Open the carnival.
• Stick Joint - Homemade wooden or metal booth.
• Stock- Game prizes
• Straight - A game that is played by the rules
• Sugar Shack - A concession or food-stand that sells cotton candy and other sugary treats.
• Store - Can mean any joint, but is usually used to refer to a "straight store" where there's a winner every time. The store is basically selling stock, usually slum, for a handsome profit.
• Tear down - Dismantling the rides and games so they can be transported to another location.
• Tip - Generally has two meanings, depending on context. Old-timers usually mean the crowd that gathers around a caller or mike-man to hear the spiel before the start of the next show, or the crowd that hangs around a joint, watching others play. A more general meaning is any scratch the agent wins from his game as in "I just won a real nice tip from that last mark".
• Two-Way Joint - A game that can be quickly converted from a fixed, unwinnable game into a temporarily honest one when police officers come by.
• With it - A carny, to identify one another, as in "I'm with it", or "Are you with it"? (With the show).

Usage in popular culture

• In Joe Dirt
  Joe Dirt
  Joe Dirt is a 2001 American comedy film starring David Spade, Dennis Miller, Christopher Walken, Brian Thompson, Brittany Daniel, Jaime Pressly, Erik Per Sullivan, Adam Beach and Kid Rock. The film was written by Spade and Fred Wolf.-Plot:...
  
  , the 2001 redneck comedy starring David Spade
  David Spade
  David Wayne Spade is an American actor, comedian and television personality who first became famous in the 1990s as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, and from 1997 until 2003 when he starred as Dennis Finch on Just Shoot Me!. He also starred as C.J...
  
  , the title character works as a "ride jock" for part of the film.
• The fourth season of Heroes
  Heroes (TV series)
  Heroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the...
  
  features several characters that live and work in a traveling carnival.
• The HBO dramatic television series Carnivàle
  Carnivàle
  Carnivàle is an American television series set in the United States during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. In tracing the lives of two disparate groups of people, its overarching story depicts the battle between good and evil and the struggle between free will and destiny; the storyline mixes...
  
  is a supernatural period drama set in the United States during the Great Depression, telling the story of a traveling carnival in the Dust Bowl
  Dust Bowl
  The Dust Bowl, or the Dirty Thirties, was a period of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie lands from 1930 to 1936...
  
   with an overarching story about the battle between good and evil as well as the struggle between free will
  Free will
  "To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
  
   and destiny.
• Carny
  Carny (film)
  Carny is a 1980 drama film about a waitress who joins a travelling carnival. It stars Gary Busey, Jodie Foster, and Robbie Robertson. It also includes an early role for Fred Ward.-Plot:...
  
  is a 1980 movie directed by Robert Kaylor and starring Gary Busey
  Gary Busey
  William Gary Busey , best known as Gary Busey, is an American film and stage actor and artist. He has appeared in a large variety of films, as well as making regular appearances on Gunsmoke, Walker, Texas Ranger, Law & Order, and Entourage...
  
  , Jodie Foster
  Jodie Foster
  Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress....
  
  , Robbie Robertson
  Robbie Robertson
  Robbie Robertson, OC; is a Canadian singer-songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known for his membership as the guitarist and primary songwriter within The Band. He was ranked 59th in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time...
  
  , and Meg Foster
  Meg Foster
  Megan "Meg" Foster is an American actress best known for her roles in the TV miniseries version of The Scarlet Letter, Ticket to Heaven, The Osterman Weekend, and They Live .-Life and career:...
  
  . The film has become a cult favorite.
• Carny
  Carny (band)
  *Carny,, is a psychedelic blues band from Austin,Texas formed in 2005 featuring Paul Leary legendary guitarist of Butthole Surfers and producer of Sublime, Meat Puppets, Reverend Horton Heat, also featuring hard hitting drummer Sam McCandless from the band Cold. Singer/songwriter Formica Iglesia...
  
   is a psychedelic blues band from Austin, Texas
  Austin, Texas
  Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
  
   formed in 2005 featuring Paul Leary
  Paul Leary
  Paul Leary is an American musician from Austin, TX, best known as the guitarist for American rock band Butthole Surfers. He is also the producer of a number of songs and albums by other bands, including U2, Sublime, the Meat Puppets, Daniel Johnston, The Reverend Horton Heat, Pepper, Maggie...
  
  , guitarist of Butthole Surfers
  Butthole Surfers
  Butthole Surfers is an American alternative rock band formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary in San Antonio, Texas in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been consistent since 1983. Teresa Nervosa served as second...
  
   and producer of Sublime
  Sublime (band)
  Sublime was an American ska punk band from Long Beach, California, formed in 1988. The band's line-up, unchanged until their breakup, consisted of Bradley Nowell , Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh . Michael "Miguel" Happoldt also contributed on a few Sublime songs, such as "New Thrash." Lou Dog, Nowell's...
  
  , Meat Puppets
  Meat Puppets
  The Meat Puppets are an American rock band formed in January 1980, in Phoenix, Arizona. The group's original lineup was Curt Kirkwood , his brother Cris Kirkwood , and Derrick Bostrom . The Kirkwood brothers met Bostrom while attending Brophy Prep High School in Phoenix...
  
  , Reverend Horton Heat, also featuring drummer Sam McCandless
  Sam McCandless
  Sam McCandless is an American musician, producer and artist. He is the founding member and drummer for the Jacksonville, Florida hard rock band Cold and Austin, Texas Psychedelic blues band Carny....
  
  from the band Cold
  Cold
  Cold describes the condition of low temperature.Cold may also refer to:*Common cold, a contagious viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory system*Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease...
  
  . Singer-songwriter Formica Iglesia, on vocals, fronts the band.
• Carnies
  Carnies (film)
  Carnies is a 2007 horror film directed by Brian Corder and starring Doug Jones.-Plot summary:In 1936 the Knuckles Brothers Show, a carnival sideshow, pulls into another in a long series of small towns, only to be plagued by a killer.- Cast:...
  
  is a 2007 movie directed by Brian Corder and starring Chris Staviski, Doug Jones
  Doug Jones (actor)
  Doug Jones is an American film and television actor best known to science fiction, fantasy, and horror fans for his various roles playing non-human characters, often in heavy makeup, in films and television series such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth and Fantastic Four: Rise...
  
  , Reggie Bannister
  Reggie Bannister
  Reginald Horace "Reggie" Bannister is an American musician, actor, producer, writer, and activist. He is often referred to as "The Hardest Working Man in Horror".-Biography:...
  
  , and Lee Perkins.
• Much of the fiction of pulp
  Pulp magazine
  Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
  
   writer Fredric Brown
  Fredric Brown
  Fredric Brown was an American science fiction and mystery writer. He was born in Cincinnati.He had two sons: James Ross Brown and Linn Lewis Brown ....
  
   features carnies and touches on carnival life, in particular the Ed and Am Hunter mysteries, beginning with The Fabulous Clipjoint
  The Fabulous Clipjoint
  The Fabulous Clipjoint, first published in 1947, is the first full-length novel by writer Fredric Brown, who had honed his craft by publishing hundreds of short stories in the pulp magazines of the day. The Fabulous Clipjoint is also the first of seven detective novels featuring the nephew/uncle...
  
  in 1947.
• Nightmare Alley
  Nightmare Alley (1947 film)
  Nightmare Alley is a 20th Century Fox film noir starring Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell, and directed by Edmund Goulding. The movie rights for the 1946 novel of the same name, written by William Lindsay Gresham, were bought by Power, who planned on starring in the film...
  
  is a 1947 movie starring Tyrone Power
  Tyrone Power
  Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
  
   and directed by Edmund Goulding
  Edmund Goulding
  Edmund Goulding was a British film writer and director. As an actor early in his career he was one of the 'Ghosts' in the 1922 British made Paramount silent Three Live Ghosts alongside Norman Kerry and Cyril Chadwick. Also in the early 20s he wrote several screenplays for star Mae Murray and...
  
  , adapted from the novel of the same name
  Nightmare Alley
  Nightmare Alley is a novel by William Lindsay Gresham. It is a study of the lowest depths of showbiz and its sleazy inhabitants- the dark, shadowy world of a second rate carnival filled with hustlers, scheming grifters, and Machiavellian femme fatales....
  
   by William Lindsay Gresham
  William Lindsay Gresham
  William Lindsay Gresham was an American novelist and non-fiction author particularly regarded among readers of noir. His best-known work is Nightmare Alley , which was adapted into a 1947 film starring Tyrone Power.- Biography :Gresham was born in Baltimore, Maryland...
  
  , which chronicles the rise and fall of a carny con man.
• Gun Crazy
  Gun Crazy
  Gun Crazy is a 1950 film noir feature film starring Peggy Cummins and John Dall in a story about the crime-spree of a gun-toting husband and wife. The film was directed by Joseph H. Lewis, and produced by Frank King and Maurice King...
  
  , a 1949 film directed by Joseph H. Lewis, stars Peggy Cummins
  Peggy Cummins
  Peggy Cummins is a retired Irish actress. Cummins is best known for her performance in Joseph H. Lewis' Gun Crazy , playing a trigger happy femme fatale who robs banks with her lover .-Early life:...
  
   as Annie Laurie Starr, a trick-shot artist in a carnival.
• In Robert A. Heinlein
  Robert A. Heinlein
  Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
  
  's Stranger in a Strange Land
  Stranger in a Strange Land
  Stranger in a Strange Land is a 1961 science fiction novel by American author Robert A. Heinlein. It tells the story of Valentine Michael Smith, a human who comes to Earth in early adulthood after being born on the planet Mars and raised by Martians. The novel explores his interaction with—and...
  
  , the protagonist Michael spends some time living with carnies.
• In Theodore Sturgeon
  Theodore Sturgeon
  Theodore Sturgeon was an American science fiction author.His most famous novel is More Than Human .-Biography:...
  
  's novel The Dreaming Jewels
  The Dreaming Jewels
  The Dreaming Jewels is a science fiction novel by Theodore Sturgeon, published in 1950. It was reprinted under the title The Synthetic Man by Pyramid Books in 1957.-Plot synopsis:...
  
  , the hero flees with carnies to escape a brutal father. The head carny collects unusual people because he has discovered strange jewels that create people as works of art. Sturgeon himself worked as a carny for a time.
• Barry Longyear's Circus World books Circus World
  Circus World
  Circus World was a theme park built north of Haines City, Florida in Polk County, on the east corner of the intersection of US 27 and Interstate 4. It was originally a property of the Ringling Bros...
  
  , City of Baraboo and Elephant Song are science fiction the premise of which is a planet populated by the descendants of a crashed space-going circus, with preserved and evolved carny culture elements including performance as a means of barter.
• Tattoo of a Naked Lady is a novel by ex-carny Randy Everhard that depicts the freak show of American sexuality.
• In the 1988 movie Two Moon Junction
  Two Moon Junction
  Two Moon Junction is a 1988 American English language erotic thriller and romance film written and directed by Zalman King, starring Sherilyn Fenn and Richard Tyson...
  
  , Richard Tyson
  Richard Tyson
  Richard Martin Tyson is an American actor.-Biography:His most prominent role was as the villain Cullen Crisp, Sr. in Kindergarten Cop co-starring alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. He also starred as high school bully Buddy Revell in the 1987 comedy Three O'Clock High...
  
   plays a carny who falls in love with a rich, southern socialite (Sherilyn Fenn
  Sherilyn Fenn
  Sherilyn Fenn is an American actress and filmmaker. She came to international attention for her performance as Audrey Horne on the 1990 cult TV series Twin Peaks...
  
  ).
• An episode of the animated series Fairly Oddparents depicts Timmy Turner going to a carnival and joining with the carnies there. He eventually becomes too good, leading the carnies to try to get rid of him "Carny-style!". Later, it is revealed that they are all fairies in disguise (except for the crocodile Carny).
• In the The Simpsons episode "Bart Carny
  Bart Carny
  "Bart Carny" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons ninth season and originally aired on the Fox network on January 11, 1998. Homer and Bart start working at a carnival and befriend a father and son duo named Cooder and Spud...
  
  ", Bart Simpson
  Bart Simpson
  Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
  
   and Homer Simpson
  Homer Simpson
  Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
  
   are forced to work as carnies after Bart destroys Hitler's car. After failing to bribe Police Chief Chief Wiggum, the ring toss game that they are fraudulently running is shut down. Throughout the episode, various carny jargon is used. One of the carnies is voiced by Jim Varney
  Jim Varney
  James Albert "Jim" Varney, Jr. was an American stand-up comedian, actor, musician, writer, voice artist, and comedian, best known for his role as Ernest P...
  
  .
• Former WWE wrestler Kizarny
  Nick Cvjetkovich
  Nicholas "Nick" Cvjetkovich is a Canadian professional wrestler, best known for his stint in World Wrestling Entertainment, where he worked on its SmackDown brand as Kizarny.-Training and beginning:...
  
   had the gimmick of a carny, including speaking with "iz" inserted into the middle of everything he says.
• Former SiriusXM Satellite radio host Bubba the Love Sponge and his crew (Hulk Hogan included) use carny slang in broadcasts
• The Dean Koontz
  Dean Koontz
  Dean Ray Koontz is a prolific American author best known for his novels which could be described broadly as suspense thrillers. He also frequently incorporates elements of horror, science fiction, mystery, and satire. A number of his books have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List, with...
  
   novels Twilight Eyes and The Funhouse are set in a carny milieu.
• "The Carny" is also a song from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
  Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
  Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian alternative rock band, formed in Melbourne in 1983. The band is fronted by Nick Cave and has featured international personnel throughout their career.-Formation and early releases :...
  
   on the album Your Funeral... My Trial
  Your Funeral... My Trial
  -Personnel:#"Sad Waters"#*Nick Cave – vocals, Hammond, harmonica#*Blixa Bargeld – guitar#*Mick Harvey – bass, rhythm guitar, drums#"The Carny"#*Nick Cave – vocals, harmonica#*Blixa Bargeld – guitar, other voice...
  
  .
• The Joni Mitchell
  Joni Mitchell
  Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
  
   song "That Song About The Midway" depicted the singer falling in love with a carny and following the show from town to town.
• Carnival Games (known in Europe as Carnival: Funfair Games) is a video game made for the Nintendo
  Nintendo
  is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
  
  Wii
  Wii
  The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
  
   and Nintendo DS
  Nintendo DS
  The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
  
   featuring a carny who helps to present and explain gameplay.
• In The Jerk
  The Jerk
  The Jerk is a 1979 American comedy film. Directed by Carl Reiner, the film was written by Steve Martin, Carl Gottlieb and Michael Elias. This was Steve Martin's first starring role in a feature film. The film also features Bernadette Peters, M. Emmet Walsh and Jackie Mason.-Plot:The film begins...
  
  , actor Steve Martin
  Steve Martin
  Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
  
   joins a traveling carnival, working as a weight guesser. He points out to his boss that his stock is worthless, aka "slum", and dates a "lot lizard".
• Many Carny words are still used by professional wrestlers
  Professional wrestling
  Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
  
   today, e.g. mark, work, snozz, et al. Pro wrestling originated in the carnivals of the 19th and early 20th century where wrestlers not wanting to face regular injury and wanting to make bouts more entertaining would 'stage' their fights. Carny language was used to disguise the staged nature of the bouts with all involved keeping "kayfabe
  Kayfabe
  In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...
  
  " or protecting the secret. When wrestling became an event in itself and left the carnivals the language came with it. British wrestlers up the 1970s used polari
  Polari
  Polari is a form of cant slang used in Britain by actors, circus and fairground showmen, criminals, prostitutes, and by the gay subculture. It was popularised in the 1960s by camp characters Julian and Sandy in the popular BBC radio show Round the Horne...
  
  words in the same manner but this died out in favor of the carny equivalent words when wrestling became 'sports entertainment'.

External links

• http://www.amazon.com/dp/1568583524
• CBC Archives - A 1971 look at Conkin Shows.
• Diary of a Carny A popular carny blog by Kevin Morra containing stories of the road, insights etc.
• Dictionary of Carnival and Sideshow Slang