Carny

Carny, also spelled carnie, is an informal term used in North America for a traveling carnival employee, and the language they use, particularly when the employee operates a game ("joint"), food stand ("grab", "popper", or "floss wagon"), or ride ("ride jock") at a carnival.

[1] Carny is thought to have become popularized around 1931 in North America, when it was first colloquially used to describe one who works at a carnival.

[3] As words are assimilated into the culture at large, they lose their function and are replaced by more obscure or insular terms.

[citation needed] Most carnies no longer use cant, but some owners/operators and "old-timers" ("half yarders") still use some of the classic terms.

In addition to carny jargon, some carnival workers used a special infix ("earz" or "eez" or "iz") to render regular language unintelligible to outsiders.