Šatrovački was initially developed by Gypsies and various marginal subcultures and criminal groups in Yugoslavia, who employed it a device of secret communication.
The term "Šatrovački" is attested in Serbian literature since as early as the year 1900, as a secret language of gamblers in Aleksinac.
[2] By the year 1981 however, one could find elements of šatrovački in the speech of very different strata of Zagreb society, from prostitutes and prisoners to scientists and professors.
It is more widespread in urban areas, such as Belgrade and Novi Sad (Serbia), Zagreb (Croatia) and Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
An example of a full sentence would be: This is particularly characteristic of Novi Sad youth subculture, and is very rarely spoken outside of Vojvodina.
It is hard to locate the origin of this version of the urban dialect, but it is found in neighbourhoods of Karaburma, Zemun and New Belgrade.