goose, n.¹ — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

goose n.¹

[theatrical use, get the goose, to be hissed]

1. a scolding, a reprimand.

[1805		C. Lamb letter to T. Manning 11 Oct. n.p.: Damn ’em how they hissed! It was not a hiss neither, but a sort of frantic yell, like a congregation of wild geese [R]].
1865		G.F. Berkeley My Life & Recollections 276: On the adventure reaching the ears of the Duke of Wellington, the active experimentalist received considerable ‘goose’.

2. an instruction, a warning to act in the required manner.

1952

(con. 1948) G. Mandel Flee the Angry Strangers 303: I give Timmy a good goose he should swear on his Bible never to squall about it.

3. a tip-off, a piece of information or a warning.

1986

J. Ellroy Suicide Hill 135: ‘You didn’t rag me on the media goose [...] a lot of innocent people are going to be hurting’.

get the goose (v.)

of an actor or performance, to be booed or jeered.

1870		London & Provincial Entr’acte 15 Oct. 3/1: I hear that Wykyn got the goose’.
1895		Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 33: Goose, ‘to get the goose,’ to be kissed [sic] on the stage.