I am a native English speaker and had to Google “peel an orange in his pocket”. It does not mean what I assumed.
Non native speaker here and is the only of the 2 I didn’t get. Spanner is the other one.
Spanner is British/Irish means idiot or tool. See also muppet.
What did you think it meant?
I did have to think about it like, context helped.
You understood it? Are you Irish? I’m Murkin and I thought it meant running one out from his pocket or something.
Peel a banana in his pocket: Tight-fisted, cheap. Often the phrase is “peel an orange in his pocket.” The idea is that someone is so cheap, he will peel a piece of fruit inside his pocket so no one will see it and ask for a bite. - Don’t Be a Muggins: Learn Some Irish Slang
It helped that numerous “he’s tight fisted” type comments and insults had been made in the same conversation, before that was said.
No, not Irish.
That’s what I thought, too*
running*rubbing