The heavy Army-issue utility bag called a duffel bag takes its name from the town of Duffel in the Belgian province of Antwerp, which produced a thick, coarse, woolen cloth from which such bags were originally made. The word duffel, also spelled...
Miley in The Dalles, Oregon, asks about going gunny bags meaning to “break down” or “go haywire.” Her mother uses this expression, but has no idea where she picked it up. The term gunny sack, referring to a bag made of coarse material such as jute...
The term kit bag question refers to a question that’s better not asked, lest you suffer a consequence you might otherwise have avoided. It’s a translation of Modern Hebrew she’elat kit bag, a slang expression that arose among members of...
An Omaha, Nebraska, listener and wife have picked up the expression Bags not! from the Australian children’s show “Bluey.” The phrase is used to stake a claim by announcing one refuses to doing something undesirable, like change a...
Hey, there! A happy post-election season to you. We hope our friends on the east coast are fully powered, dry, and warm. And everywhere else, we hope your recycling is overflowing with campaign signs. Here’s what we’ve been up to: brand...
t-shirt bag n.— «There is now a push both at state and local levels to minimize the use of these plastic grocery bags or what the industry calls “t-shirt bags.” “It sticks to everything. In the garbage stream, in the...