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.
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UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
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He and his mate decided to play the wag and spend the afternoon fishing at the canal instead.
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(idiomatic, UK, slang, dated) To play truant .
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