▪ I. flatty, n. slang.
(ˈflætɪ)
[f. flat n.3 + -y1.]
One who is ignorant of the methods of professional thieving; a flat; also comb.: flatty-ken (see quot.).
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour (1861) I. 218 They betray to the ‘flatties’..all their profits and proceedings. Ibid. (1851) I. 243 ‘Flatty-kens’, that is, houses the landlord of which is not ‘awake’ or ‘fly’ to the ‘moves’ and dodges of the trade. |
▪ II. flatty2 colloq.
(ˈflætɪ)
Also flattie.
[f. flat a. + -y6.]
1. A flatfish.
| 1892 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words I. 291 Flatty, a flatfish. 1950 W. Holtby South Riding vi. iv. 384 They used to go spiking for flaties in the mud. 1971 Angling Times 10 June 25/4 A 2 lb 11/4 oz flounder was the best ‘flattie’ in Teignmouth SAS's first contest. |
2. A flat-bottomed boat.
| 1892 Otago Daily Times 26 Mar., We..accepted the use of a flat-bottomed boat, of the species known in the district as ‘flatties’. 1908 E. J. Banfield Confessions of Beachcomber i. ii. 60 A huge black beacon waddled along..followed by a roughly-built ‘flatty’. 1937 Partridge Dict. Slang, Flattie, flatty, a small flat-bottomed sailing-boat: coll., esp. among boys: from ca. 1860. 1939 Yachting June 109 It's the ideal building material for rowboats, folding boats, kyaks and ‘flatties’. 1946 K. Tennant Lost Haven (1947) ii. 31 Jamaica was breathing heavily with the effort of rowing the flattie against the tide. 1970 Motor Boat & Yachting 16 Oct. 38/3 To be successful a flattie should have a length/beam ratio of 4 to 5, the latter figure giving the faster boat. A typical American flattie of the 1800s was 20ft. in length with 5ft. beam at deck level and 4ft. 3in. at the bottom. |
3. A policeman. Cf. flat-foot 2 d.
| 1899 ‘J. Flynt’ Tramping with Tramps 393 Flatty, a policeman; synonymous with ‘bull’. 1900 ‘Flynt’ & Walton Powers that Prey iv. 51 The ‘flatties’ in uniforms surrounded the place. 1911 Sessions Papers 13 Feb. 359 One of the men says, ‘Look out, here comes a {oqq}flatty{cqq}’ (meaning a policeman). 1922 Joyce Ulysses 487 The squeak is out. A split is gone for the flatties. 1928 E. Wallace Gunner xvii. 133 That is what you tell the flattie if there is any fuss. 1934 D. L. Sayers Nine Tailors 216 It's damned slack of you flatties not to have dug me out earlier. 1949 Wodehouse Mating Season xix. 166 ‘You know Dobbs?’ ‘The flatty?’ ‘Our village constable, yes.’ |
4. = flat n.3 9 f (a).
| 1937 Amer. Speech XII. 236/2 She was just a brown⁓haired kid who wore flatties and went barelegged. 1955 ‘C. H. Rolph’ Women of Streets vi. 77 I'm wearing flatties now to rest my feet. 1970 Guardian 2 May 1/2 Mary Wilson..saying she liked to ‘put on my flatties and head scarf and walk for miles’. |