play kneesie / footsie

Breakfast at Tiffany's のHollyは日焼けで入院したMagを置いてMagの彼氏のJoseと旅行に行ってしまします。
その旅行先での話しです。
We had an irresistible guide, most of him Negro and the rest of him Chinese, and while I don't go much for one or the other, the combination was fairly riveting: so I let him play kneesie under the table, because frankly I didn't find him at all banal; but then one night he took us to a blue movie, and what do you suppose? There he was on the screen.
"play kneesie" ユニークな表現ですね。　辞書を見ます。
OneLook検索でListされた辞書はスラング辞書のUrban Dictionaryだけでした。そこでの説明は：
When two, sitting, people are flirting by touching knees usually under a table. Similar to footsie but is better done while sitting side by side or kitty corner, and is less likely to cause outbursts of laughter. Also the recipient often wonders if the kneesier is doing it on purpose.
なるほど、そんな意味の単語があるのですか。 Googleで調べるとMerriam-Webster's Dictionaryにも説明があるのが分かりました。
an action of flirting or becoming friendly or intimate: played kneesies under the table
Urban Dictionaryに出てきた "footsie" だとほとんどの辞書に載っていました。 Oxford English Dictionaryの説明だけ引用します。
the action of touching someone’s feet lightly with one’s own feet, especially under a table, as a playful expression of romantic interest: He was playing footsie under the table with Mara.
何十年か前に読んだ日本の小説にこの "play kneesie/footsie" にあたる表現があった事を思い出しました。