Coney-catching Coney-catching Coney-catching is Elizabethan slang for theft through trickery. It comes from the word "coney" (sometimes spelled "conny"), meaning a rabbit raised for the table and thus tame. A coney-catcher was a thief or con man. It was a practice in medieval and Renaissance England in which devious people on the street would try to con or cheat vulnerable or gullible pedestrians. The term appears in "The Taming of the Shrew" and "The Merry Wives of Windsor" by William Shakespeare, and in the John Florio translation of Montaigne's essay, "Of the Cannibals." The term was first used in print by
Coney Island in 1979, dedicated to preserving the dignity of American popular culture. Coney Island USA has also sponsored the "Coney Island Film Festival" every October since 2000, as well as "Burlesque At The Beach", and "Creepshow at the Freakshow" (an interactive Halloween-themed event). It also houses the Coney Island Museum. The annual "Cosme 5K Charity Run/Walk", supported by the "Coney Island Sports Foundation" ("CISF"), takes place on the last Sunday of June on the Riegelmann Boardwalk. In August 2006, Coney Island hosted a major national volleyball tournament sponsored by the Association of Volleyball Professionals. The tournament, usually held on the west