fake
A ’alf-brother, who’s always got to be spry with some fake about ’is lineage. (T. T. T. 138. 22.)
Uneducated Londoner.
»I ain’t the talent for the Don Juan fake.» (T. T. T. 143. 13.)
The same.
Fake (originally thieves’ cant?) is a proceeding or an affair of any kind irrespective of morals or legality. In America: a swindler. As verb: to do anything, to fabricate, cheat, steal, forge, etc.—a general verb-of-all-work. To fake up: to paint one’s face, make up a character.
The etymology is very doubtful. Some authors have associated the word with feage (whiff away), derived perhaps from the German fegen. This seems, however, to be rather a questionable construction.