gooseberry lay

== English == === Noun === gooseberry lay (plural gooseberry lays) (archaic, thieves' cant) The stealing of linen hanging on a line. (Can we date this quote?), Dashiell Hammett, early manuscript of The Maltese Falcon, quoted in 2020, Study Guide to The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (Influence Publishers, →ISBN): “How long have you been off the gooseberry lay, son?” === References === John S[tephen] Farmer; W[illiam] E[rnest] Henley, compilers (1893), “gooseberry lay”, in Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present. […], volume III, [London: […] Harrison and Sons] […], →OCLC, page 183.