To slip someone a mickey means to doctor a drink and give it to an unwitting recipient. The phrase goes back to Mickey Finn of the Lone Star Saloon in Chicago, who in the late 19th century was notorious for drugging certain customers and relieving...
Secret signals on the job: Waitresses at some 19th-century restaurants ensured speedy drink service by communicating with a non-verbal code. One server took orders, then placed each customer’s cup to indicate exactly what the customer wanted...
The term highway robbery has its roots in the late 17th century, when traveling in and out of town by night could be particularly dangerous. Highway robbers would leap out of the darkness, point a weapon at the occupants of an approaching carriage...
hood tax n.—Gloss: a mugging or the things taken in a mugging. «Police say some criminals have taken to calling their robberies at gunpoint of people on Akron streets a “hood tax,” part of a growing number of robberies...
black spot n.— «A black spot is an acronym for any place or a particular area where bags, handsets or other handy valuables are often snatched by pickpockets who have studied such areas and knew quite well that a large number of people...
