"Steaming"

[Jonathon Green]

Wilson Gray wrote:
> Another one new to me.
>
> <http://news.com.com/Whats+the+buzz+Teens+cant+stand>
>
> "... [Y]ouths swarm into stores and begin stealing en masse, a phenomenon
> known in Britain as "steaming."
> --
> -Wilson Gray
>
>
>
It's been around since the 1980s. The earliest uses seem to link to mass
muggings of the passengers on underground trains in London. I have
always assumed that it is based on the vb. 'steam in', to attack, to
commit oneself wholeheartedly.

JG