wayz-goose
Definitions
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- noun (noun) A stubble-goose; hence, a fat goose—that is, one ready to kill in harvest-time.
- noun (noun) An entertainment given by an apprentice to his fellow-workmen, of which the goose was the crowning dish; hence, in recent times, a printers' annual dinner, the funds for which are collected by stewards regularly appointed by 'the chapel.'
Examples
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There was a wayz-goose in the West Coast Time Office on Friday night, prolonged until Saturday morning - New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day. A wayz-goose is not a fire, or a flood, or a fever. It is simply a spree.
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May we be pardoned if we display an unjustifiable vanity in announcing that this evening the whole staff, proprietary and employees of every degree, of the Lyttleton Times hold their 'wayz-goose,' to celebrate the eighth anniversary of the establishment of this paper; (the true day, however, being the 11th of January). The term applied is perhaps unfamiliar to most of our readers, but to a printer's ear and eye it is more appropriate in festival times than any other term of rejoicing.
'Canterbury,' Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, January 8, 1859
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Carriages were chartered, an enormous quantity of eatables and drinkables provided, and away we went, a regular wayzgoose or bean-feast party.
The Cruise of the Cachalot Round the World After Sperm Whales
Note
The 'wayz-goose,' also 'wayzgoose,' is held on or near St. Bartholomew's Day, marking the end of summer. Later 'wayz-goose' came to refer to an annual dinner for printers.
