Expression “Snap on the Grouch Bag”

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Elizabeth Boulay from Indianapolis, Indiana.

Hello, Elizabeth.

Hello, Elizabeth.

Well, good afternoon.

What’s cooking over there?

Well, a couple years ago, my cousin and I were visiting our elderly Aunt Harriet,

And she used a phrase, and the phrase was,

Put a snap on the grouch bag.

What?

Put a snap on the grouch bag.

Put a snap on the grouch bag.

In what context would Aunt Harriet say something like that?

Well, you know, we weren’t sure because Harriet told a lot of stories and you didn’t always listen to every bit of it, but that sure caught our attention when she said that.

Wake up, everybody.

We thought it meant quit your complaining.

Yeah, that’s what I would think.

Yep, I would think so, too.

I like that.

And so we giggled, and I thought I’ll start using that phrase immediately.

So I said, well, what does that mean, Harriet?

Did that mean to stop complaining?

She said, no, it meant to keep track of your valuables.

And I thought, isn’t that odd?

So I’ve just sort of, for the last few years,

Just walked around thinking that I have no idea where the phrase came from, really.

But more importantly, I’d like to be able to use it in common parlance,

But I don’t really know what it means.

So I thought I’d better find that out first.

Oh, well, you know, we’re big advocates of bringing old phrases back.

So all for that.

We’ll tell you all about it, and you’ve got to promise to go use it, all right?

You bet.

All right.

Well, here’s an interesting fact about grouch, all right?

Because the word that you said is grouchbag, G-R-O-U-C-H, right?

Mm—

Grouch actually comes from a word, or is related to a word, grutch, G-R-U-T-C-H,

Which in turn is related to grudge, G-R-U-D-G.

They’re all kind of kith and kin.

Okay.

Okay.

Now, one of the meanings of grudge, the verb, that we don’t really use anymore,

Is to murmur or complain or to be reluctant to give.

There’s several meanings we don’t use here,

And they’re all kind of all wrapped up together, right?

Because you don’t really say, you know,

She was over in the back of the house grudging about how nobody else did any work around the house, right?

We don’t really use grudge that way.

Right.

Begrudge, in the verb to grudge, like I begrudge you the money that I’m giving you,

Even though I owe it to you, right?

Sure.

Because I don’t really want to give it to you.

I want to withhold it from you.

It actually has the same meaning as an older form of grudge that we don’t use anymore.

So these are all kind of related.

There’s a transition there.

You can see how that might work where a verb that means to murmur or complain

And also has something to do with someone who begrudges you their money

And complains about it is grutching, right?

And also it’s a pretty easy transformation from grutch to grouch and grouchy.

But you’re right.

A grouch bag, interestingly enough, was used among carnies.

That’s circus and carnival folk.

And the same way that tourists today use money bags,

And they kind of wrap them around their waists or around their chests under their clothing.

And that’s a grouch bag.

You keep your valuables there.

I didn’t know that.

Yeah, when you’re out on the fairway and you’re running your stand,

You don’t want somebody to go back to your trailer and pilfer all your dough.

So you’ve got to keep it on you, right?

No, but why would it be called a grouch bag, though, as opposed to a happy bag?

Well, again, remember here, grouching has something to do with complaining and begrudging people, I think, what they want from you, right?

People want your money.

That’s the best I can offer you.

So it doesn’t have anything to do with carrying a grudge then?

No, I don’t believe that it does, no.

So, Elizabeth, we have to put a snap on the talk bag here.

All righty.

Well, I understand.

Well, thanks so much.

Very fun to chat with you both.

Thank you.

Great chatting with you.

Bye-bye.

Thanks.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

1-877-929-9673 or email WeReadEverythingWordsAtWaywardRadio.org.