Saturday, February 8, 2014

british english - Orwell: "A glimmer [is] one who watches vacant motor-cars." What does this mean?

Title is a quote from Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London. In this section he goes through a bunch of London slang terms and what they mean, but I don't understand his definition. What does it mean to watch vacant motor-cars? The only thing I can think of is someone who you pay when you park who makes sure nobody steals your car when it's gone. But how does that work? What assurance does the driver have that the person watching won't just leave or steal the car themselves?

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