I'm looking for terms for people who leave restaurants/bars/etc without
paying their bill/check. [Apart from 4-letter terms]

If you provide a term, could you please let me know if the term is UK or US
English (or some other variety of English), and if the term is a "trade"
term or not (i.e. only used by restaurant/etc staff, and not by the general
public).

For example, AIUI the term "deadbeat" is used in the US for such people, but
as a Brit I don't know if this is a trade term, or one used by the general
public.
(The term "deadbeat" is used in the UK, but generally only to mean a
waster/loafer/scrounger, not in the sense of someone who doesn't pay their
bill/check).

Any other expressions like "deadbeat" would be appreciated.

Thanks
Nick

Nick,

"Dine and dash" is one I hear here in the US.

- Rudy Valencia.

Nick Worley wrote:
> I'm looking for terms for people who leave restaurants/bars/etc without
> paying their bill/check. [Apart from 4-letter terms]
>
> If you provide a term, could you please let me know if the term is UK or US
> English (or some other variety of English), and if the term is a "trade"
> term or not (i.e. only used by restaurant/etc staff, and not by the general
> public).
>
> For example, AIUI the term "deadbeat" is used in the US for such people, but
> as a Brit I don't know if this is a trade term, or one used by the general
> public.
> (The term "deadbeat" is used in the UK, but generally only to mean a
> waster/loafer/scrounger, not in the sense of someone who doesn't pay their
> bill/check).
>
> Any other expressions like "deadbeat" would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks
> Nick

On Mon, 3 Oct 2005 00:51:46 +0100, "Nick Worley" >
wrote:

>I'm looking for terms for people who leave restaurants/bars/etc without
>paying their bill/check. [Apart from 4-letter terms]
>
>If you provide a term, could you please let me know if the term is UK or US
>English (or some other variety of English), and if the term is a "trade"
>term or not (i.e. only used by restaurant/etc staff, and not by the general
>public).
>
>For example, AIUI the term "deadbeat" is used in the US for such people, but
>as a Brit I don't know if this is a trade term, or one used by the general
>public.
>(The term "deadbeat" is used in the UK, but generally only to mean a
>waster/loafer/scrounger, not in the sense of someone who doesn't pay their
>bill/check).
>
>Any other expressions like "deadbeat" would be appreciated.

"Walkout" is East Coast American for that.

Nellie Paris

Thanks for your replies.

I'm specifically looking for a term to describe the *person* who leaves
without paying.

Rudy: Have you ever heard such a person referred to as a "dine and dasher"?

Nellie: does the term "walkout" refer to the *activity* of walking out
without paying, or to the *person* who walks out without paying, or to both?

Regards
Nick

On Tue, 4 Oct 2005 00:19:17 +0100, "Nick Worley" >
wrote:

>Thanks for your replies.
>
>I'm specifically looking for a term to describe the *person* who leaves
>without paying.
>
>Rudy: Have you ever heard such a person referred to as a "dine and dasher"?
>
>Nellie: does the term "walkout" refer to the *activity* of walking out
>without paying, or to the *person* who walks out without paying, or to both?

Nick,

We servers would say, "I had a walkout last night" -- it was used as a
noun.

Nellie

Nellie Paris > wrote:

> We servers would say, "I had a walkout last night" -- it was
> used as a noun.

I could interpret this sentece either as the noun being
the individual who walked out, or the event of an individual
walking out.

But I agree it's better than a "stiffer".

Steve

"Nellie Paris" > wrote in message
...
> On Tue, 4 Oct 2005 00:19:17 +0100, "Nick Worley" >
> wrote:
>
>>Thanks for your replies.
>>
>>I'm specifically looking for a term to describe the *person* who leaves
>>without paying.
>>
>>Rudy: Have you ever heard such a person referred to as a "dine and
>>dasher"?
>>
>>Nellie: does the term "walkout" refer to the *activity* of walking out
>>without paying, or to the *person* who walks out without paying, or to
>>both?
>
> Nick,
>
> We servers would say, "I had a walkout last night" -- it was used as a
> noun.
>
> Nellie

You would presumably be referring to a person if you said "I had a walkout
last night", although "walkout" could also be understood to mean "an
instance of someone walking out" (i.e. the activity, rather than the
person).
Either way, both are nouns.
But whatever, you've answered my question.
Thanks again.
Regards
Nick