Blount was not a freak...

Blount was not a freak, although when you first saw him he gave you that impression. It was like something was deformed about him -- but when you looked at him closely each part of him was normal and as it ought to be. Therefore if this difference was not in the body it was probably in the mind. He was like a man who had served a term in prison or had been to Harvard College or had lived for a long time with foreigners in South America. He was like a person who had been somewhere that other people are not likely to go or had done something that others are not apt to do.

Carson McCullers
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1941)

Watch your step, brother

A man in the blue-gray jail uniform came along between the cells reading numbers. He stopped in front of mine and unlocked the door and gave me the hard stare they think they have to wear on their pans forever and forever and forever. I'm a cop, brother, I'm tough, watch your step, brother, or we'll fix you up so you'll crawl on your hands and knees, brother, snap out of it, brother, let's get a load of the truth, brother, let's go, and let's not forget we're tough guys, we're cops, and we do what we like with punks like you.

Raymond Chandler
The Lady In the Lake (1943)

I don't amuse easy

   His smile was wide, about three quarters of an inch. "I don't amuse easy," he said.
   "Just like Queen Victoria," I said.
   "I don't get it."
   "I don't expect miracles," I said.

Raymond Chandler
The High Window (1942)