He's trying to pinch my secretary...

[NinaZara]

Hello,

My father always uses the word "pinching" for "stealing" or "taking advantages". The other day he told me about his experience regarding getting a good secretary and he said something like this, " So the guy was trying to pinch my secretary (the good one, there was two secretaries with one being the competent one) under my nose..."

I was wondering, is this usage of the word "pinch" for "steal" can be used for any circumstances and is it strictly British?

Many thanks in advance,
Nina

[Haihao]

My dictionary's two cents says 'pinch' is a slang meaning to take (money or property) unlawfully and a member of synonyms of 'steal'. And my two cents is it's not necessarily of strict or non-strict British usage. It could also be used as a noun meaning 'theft'.

[Yankee]

[Alan]

And that would certainly not be the only nationality thinking along those lines!
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Here comes 2004...

[NinaZara]

Hello everybody,

Thank you so much for the input. I think I prefer to stay away from the slang. Too disturbing

Nina