Hook and Snivey, with Nix the buffer

sionnach commented on the word Hook and Snivey, with Nix the buffer

A confidence trick used to finagle a free meal for a man and a dog. From Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1811):

This rig consists in feeding a man and a dog for nothing, and is carried on thus: Three men, one of who pretends to be sick and unable to eat, go to a public house: the two well men make a bargain with the landlord for their dinner, and when he is out of sight, feed their pretended sick companion and dog gratis.

By extension the term came to mean general trickery and skullduggery, see e.g.

this reference

January 22, 2011