slipping out the back way with swindled goods
Historical term for a specific Edo-period scam: a customer in a brothel or similar establishment would sneak out without paying, often taking items with them. Rarely used in modern Japanese outside historical contexts.
In Edo-period pleasure quarters, slipping out with swindled goods was a serious crime.
Standard kanji spelling for this historical term.
Alternate kanji spelling using 脱 (escape).
Compound of 籠 (かご, 'basket, palanquin') and 抜け (ぬけ, 'slipping out, escaping'), literally 'slipping out of the basket'. The exact historical derivation is uncertain; the term is associated with Edo-period underworld slang.