What does ‘hot’ means in this context?
- Looks expensive
-no, I bought it from a guy on the street, it was like $50
- do you think it is hot?
———-
Does it mean stolen or fake or some kind of illegal way of selling? Could you please explain?
Thanks!

Question

What does ‘hot’ means in this context?
- Looks expensive 
-no, I bought it from a guy on the street, it was like $50
- do you think it is hot? 
———-
Does it mean stolen or fake or some kind of illegal way of selling? Could you please explain? 
Thanks!

Answer

As you suspect the meaning here is 'recently stolen'.

Answer

Wentworth and Flexner's Dictionary of American Slang says "Stolen recently, and therefore sought actively by the police. 1925: "Stolen bonds are 'hot paper;' stolen diamonds are 'hot ice.'"

The idea of something important to the police occurs in some other similar expressions. "The heat is on" means "the police are focussing their efforts on something."

"Hot" has a large number of different slang meanings--that one is #11 in the dictionary!

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