hop the wag
A dated British slang phrase meaning to play truant — to skip school without permission and spend the day doing something more entertaining instead.
Definitions
A dated British slang phrase meaning to play truant — to skip school without permission and spend the day doing something more entertaining instead. 'Hopping the wag' was the kind of thing that got you a caning in the Victorian and Edwardian eras if you were caught. 'Wag' here is short for 'wagging it' (playing hooky), a sense still alive in British school slang, even if this fuller phrase has fallen out of regular use. The image is of jumping over or off the obligation.
Half the boys in the class were known to hop the wag on the afternoon of the local fair so they could get there before the rides closed.
Comments
(idiomatic, UK, slang, dated) To play truant .
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Semantically related
- play the wag82%
Play the wag is a dated British phrase meaning to play truant — to deliberately skip school without permission. It belongs to the same semantic family as 'wag off,' 'skive,' 'bunk off,' and 'play hooky.' Largely obsolete but survives in dialect usage and historical accounts of British childhood. The register is informal and slightly roguish; it carries the suggestion of a child sneaking off for a day of freedom rather than a more serious dereliction.
- wag80%
(UK, Australia, New Zealand, slang) To play truant from school.
- play the wag74%
(idiomatic, UK, slang, dated) To play truant .
- hop it72%
Hop it is a British dismissal meaning get lost, go away, or clear off — delivered with varying degrees of impatience depending on tone. It can be affectionately exasperated when said to children underfoot, or genuinely hostile when aimed at someone who has overstayed their welcome. The hop suggests a light, quick departure — you are not being commanded to storm out, just to bounce away promptly and stop being a nuisance.