‘The Thieves’ is a bold, cheeky, roguish name – playing on the romance of the outlaw and the mischief of the light-fingered
The Thieves in Clapham holds fifteen hundred and forty-six reviews and a 4.1 – a large, fair sample – and it carries a bold, cheeky, roguish name, playing on the enduring romance of the outlaw and the mischievous appeal of the light-fingered and the disreputable.
The roguish name
“The Thieves” is a genuinely bold and unusual choice – most venues want to seem respectable and welcoming, and naming your bar after criminals is a cheeky, provocative, rakish move. But it works, because the thief, the rogue, the outlaw, occupies a peculiar and enduring place of romance and affection in human culture. We do not admire actual theft, of course – but the figure of the roguish, charming, clever thief has a powerful and enduring appeal, from myth and legend down to the present day.
A bar named “The Thieves” reaches for this whole roguish, rakish, slightly disreputable romance – the sense of a den of loveable rogues, a hideout for charming scoundrels, a place with a cheeky, mischievous, outlaw spirit. It is a name with character and swagger, promising fun, mischief, and a certain rakish charm – the opposite of the bland and respectable. There is real appeal in the cheek of it.
The romance of the outlaw
The loveable thief and the romantic outlaw run deep through human storytelling. Robin Hood, whom we have met throughout this survey, is the supreme example – the outlaw who steals from the rich to give to the poor, the noblest of thieves, beloved for centuries. But the roguish thief appears everywhere: Aladdin, the “street rat” thief of the Arabian Nights; the gentleman-thief like Raffles or Arsene Lupin; the charming con-artists and clever burglars of countless heist films (Ocean’s Eleven and its endless kin); the loveable rogues of literature from Autolycus to the Artful Dodger. The clever, charming, roguish thief is one of the great enduring characters of story – admired for wit, daring, skill and cheek, even as we disapprove of the actual crime.
There is a reason for this enduring appeal. The thief, the outlaw, represents a kind of freedom and defiance – the refusal to play by the rules, the daring and cleverness to take what is wanted, the romance of living outside respectable society. In story, at least, the thief is often the clever underdog, outwitting the powerful and the pompous, and we cheer them on. “The Thieves” taps into this whole rich vein of roguish romance – the cheeky, clever, daring outlaw spirit.
Thick as thieves
There is a warmer meaning hidden in the name, too. “Thick as thieves” is a common phrase meaning very close, intimate, loyal friends – people who are as close and conspiratorial as a band of thieves working together. It comes from the idea of thieves needing to trust and rely on each other completely, sharing secrets and watching each other’s backs. So “The Thieves” carries, beneath its roguish surface, a warm suggestion of close friendship, loyalty and conspiratorial intimacy – the band of friends as “thick as thieves,” gathered together in their den. For a bar – a place of friendship and gathering – this is a rather lovely hidden meaning: the pub as the den where friends, thick as thieves, gather in loyal and conspiratorial good fellowship.
The pub
A large, popular bar doing a fair 4.1 across a large and real sample, boldly named “The Thieves” – playing on the roguish romance of the outlaw and the warm intimacy of friends as “thick as thieves.”
Verdict
Large, popular, and boldly, cheekily named – “The Thieves,” the roguish romance of the loveable outlaw, and the warm loyalty of friends thick as thieves.
Gather at The Thieves with friends thick as thieves, and enjoy the cheeky swagger of the name – the roguish charm of the outlaw, and the conspiratorial warmth of the den where loyal friends gather.
Alan Nafzger was born in Lubbock, Texas, the son Swiss immigrants. He grew up on a dairy in Windthorst, north central Texas. He earned degrees from Midwestern State University (B.A. 1985) and Texas State University (M.A. 1987). University College Dublin (Ph.D. 1991). Dr. Nafzger has entertained and educated young people in Texas colleges for 37 years. Nafzger is best known for his dark novels and experimental screenwriting. His best know scripts to date are Lenin’s Body, produced in Russia by A-Media and Sea and Sky produced in The Philippines in the Tagalog language. In 1986, Nafzger wrote the iconic feminist western novel, Gina of Quitaque. He currently lives in Holloway, North London. Contact: [email protected]
Affection underneath critique essential. Only write well about love.