Elsie from Fredericksburg, Texas, wonders if a gunnysack and a burlap bag are the same thing. Both are made from coarse fabric, but the word gunnysack is actually redundant, because the gunny goes back to a Sanskrit word that means “sack.” Tow sack is another term for a bag made of coarse fabric. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Is a “Gunnysack” the Same as a “Burlap Bag”?”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, how are you?
I’m doing well. Who are you and where are you calling from?
Well, I’m Elsie and I’m calling from Fredericksburg, Texas.
Well, I was calling about the word gunny sack.
I know what a burlap bag is or a burlap sack, but I didn’t know what a gunny sack was.
Oh, what put this into your mind?
I was reading a book and it said they used a gunny sack.
And I thought, is that the same as a burlap bag?
Okay. Yeah. Good question. Well, you know, it can be. How are they using the gunny sack in the book? What was happening? What was going on?
They were filling a bag. Oh, just ordinary usage of a bag. Okay. Yeah. So a gunny sack often is basically the same thing as a burlap bag. It’s made from this coarse fabric, often made from hemp or jute.
These are fibers made from natural materials.
And what’s interesting is, at least to me, is that gunny sack kind of means sack sack.
Because the gunny part of the word goes back to a Sanskrit word that means sack.
And then from Sanskrit, the original word entered all of these Indian languages where it often means sack or bag, or it means the fabric that the sack is made out of.
And it sounds like things that are similar to gunny, like gunny, goony, goony, gong, gaun, things like that. And it’s from these languages, particularly Hindi, one of the most common languages spoken in India, that the word gunny, for the name of this fabric, entered English in the 1700s through British domination of that country and the subcontinent and through trade.
So a gunny sack would be a sack made out of gunny, made out of this fabric.
Okay, well, that answers that question, then.
Now, since you’re from Texas, let me ask you, have you ever heard of a toe sack?
No, I’ve heard of a P-O-K-E sack or a poke.
Yeah, a poke is an old-fashioned word for a sack.
Like a poke is just a pig in a poke.
It means a pig in a bag or a pig in a sack.
Well, a toe sack is another name for these.
Toe is another fabric, like burlap, that’s made out of jute or hemp.
Okay.
Well, that’s exactly why I listen to this program.
I learn things.
Well, that’s why we like to do the show, because our listeners make us learn things.
I think you have all the answers.
Thank you.
We’re glad to help, Elsie.
Take care now.
Thank you.
Bye.
Bye, Elsie.
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