this post was submitted on 31 May 2026
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True story.
"The rag lay" meant stealing washing off a clothes line. It was the kind of crime a tramp would pull. In one of his stories he had the hero insult a woman by saying her mother had worked the rag lay. His editor objected to the line, because he thought it sounded obscene.
Hammett cut the line, but in his next story he used the term 'gunsel.' Since it sounded like 'gun' the editor approved it without a thought.
'Gunsel' was slang for a straight guy who traded sexual favors in prison.