scratch

[lukre]

I'm having trouble translating the nickname Scratch to my language. The caracter is a young thief.(+ and I don't suppose it has anything to do with scratching ).
Can somebody help me -What type of person would have such a nickname?

[Tdol]

Nicknames can be derived in many ways, so they could have picked up the name for a number of reasons- the name doesn't imply stealing to me.

[curmudgeon]

Nicknames often describe a characteristic of the person. There was a soccer player known as 'Sniffer' because of his ability to 'sniff out' goals from the least likely situations. 'Scratch' probably means someone who scratches around looking for things to steal. It also has a tone of endearment about it so he is probably well-liked.

Curmudgeon

[Dandelion]

Scratch is slang for money.

[Ouisch]

He could be a car thief who is talented at scratching out and changing the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) on stolen cars. He could be a counterfeiter - as Dandelion said "scratch" is a slang term for money, and it could also refer to his expertise at copying signatures and changing the printing on checks/money orders. Or he could be any kind of thief, but he suffers from Psoriasis, which makes him itch, and somewhere along the line that illness will lead to him getting caught (detectives find mysterious traces of Calcipotriene at the crime scene).

[BobK]

... or he could be valued in his criminal gang because he's good at conjuring up material from scratch; or he may be an all-purpose criminal (picks locks, blows safes, drives getaway cars - anything), so he's a good contact for an organizer of 'one-off gangs ('scratch teams') - because he's versatile; or his surname might be 'Smith' (which with the TH-fronting of Cockney would become Smiff') - giving him the possible rhyming slang nickname of 'Scratch [and sniff]'...

Time for my medication.

b