"Circus" Jargon
The characters' jargon-heavy dialogue establishes the fictional authenticity of the espionage portrayed in The Honourable Schoolboy; examples of John le Carré's tradecraft language are:
| Tradecraft term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Agent | An external, freelance person recruited to provide information and services; Circus staff are referred to as intelligence officers. |
| Burrowers | Circus researchers, usually academics recruited from universities. |
| Circus | The in-house name for MI6, the SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) which collects foreign intelligence. "Circus" refers to the SIS's London locale at Cambridge Circus. |
| The Competition | MI5, the internal UK counter-espionage and counter-terrorism security service, whom the Circus often calls "The Security Mob". |
| The Cousins | The CIA in particular, and US intelligences services in general. |
| Ferrets | Technicians responsible for finding and removing hidden microphones, cameras, et cetera. |
| Housekeepers | Internal auditors and disciplinarians of the Circus. |
| Janitors | Operations staff |
| Lamplighters | Control surveillance and couriers. |
| Mothers | Secretaries and trusted typists serving the head of the Circus. |
| Nuts and Bolts | Engineers who develop and manufacture espionage devices. |
| Pavement Artists | Circus officers who inconspicuously follow people in public. |
| Scalphunters | Assassinations, counter-espionage, burglaries, kidnappings, et cetera, that was sidelined after Control's dismissal. |
| Shoemakers | Circus forgers |
| Babysitters | Bodyguards |
| Wranglers | Radio signal analysts and cryptographers; the name derives from Wrangler maths students. |
Read more about this topic: The Honourable Schoolboy
Famous quotes containing the words circus and/or jargon:
“It beats sitting around with my butt in a sling.”
—Antoinette Cancello, U.S. circus aerialist. As quoted in WomenSports magazine, p. 35 (January 1976)
“You know, whenever women make imaginary female kingdoms in literature, they are always very permissive, to use the jargon word, and easy and generous and self-indulgent, like the relationships between women when there are no men around. They make each other presents, and they have little feasts, and nobody punishes anyone else. This is the female way of going along when there are no men about or when men are not in the ascendant.”
—Doris Lessing (b. 1919)