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...
A Green Bay Packers fan wonders why a quarterback who’s tackled is said to be sacked. The roots of the word sack as in “bag” goes back thousands of years, all the way to Akkadian, later spreading through Greek, Latin, and then to Romance and...
On our Facebook group, a listener posted a photo of a doubletake-worthy sign. in her local grocery, which reads, “We Now Offer Boxes to Bag Your Groceries.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Boxes to Bag...
In the world of covert secret agents, a burn bag is the go-to receptacle for important papers you’d like to have burned rather than intercepted by the enemy. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Secret Agent Burn...
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...
If someone asks for their groceries in a bag, does that mean they want paper or plastic? Jean-Patrick in Dallas, Texas, has had plenty of experience bagging groceries, and says his customers use the term bag specifically to mean the paper kind. We...
