If You’re the Real Deal, You’re All That and a Bag of Chips

Hi, you have A Way with Words.

Hi there, this is Kyla calling you from Maryland.

Hey, Kyla, welcome.

What’s up?

I’m actually originally from British Columbia, and my husband is from upstate New York, which I think is relevant for this question.

I often will say things like, you know, so-and-so thinks they’re all that in a bag of chips, or, you know, he’s really not all that in a bag of chips. And my husband has no idea what I’m talking about. So I’m wondering where this comes from, and I’m assuming it’s regional, but I’m wondering you can tell me.

So yeah, this has been used since the late 80s for sure. And it may go back a little earlier than that. And it’s an extension of the older slangy expression, just plain old all that. And this comes from Black American English. And just again, like you used it, Kyla, was often used in the negative. You ain’t all that or you’re not all that. And that might have been a shortening of all that great. And just really a way to just kind of summarize just the everything that they are not. Just from top to bottom, from head to toe, you are not all that you think that you are. And then all that in a bag of chips was just a fun way of extending that. And it really took off in the early 90s, very early 90s. In 1991, there was a Baltimore Sun story about new slang that was widely reprinted. I went coast to coast. And after that, the term was just everywhere. I think lots of people picked it up from there. I’m not saying that the average person on the street, but certainly authors and people who are attentive to new language did. And interestingly I can’t find all that and a bag of chips in the lyrics of any hip-hop song before that date although you know the lyrics websites don’t have everything but I didn’t look but it’s kind of like all that and the kitchen sink it’s kind of like throwing everything in there that’s conceivable you know right okay because I I’ve only ever heard that and then and once I was watching an English show, a British TV show recently, and they said that so-and-so thought he was all that in a plate of rich crackers. I thought that that was completely amazing.

Yeah, there are other people. People have played around with it. A plate of fries, a plate of chips, a plate of green beans, a plate of biscuits and gravy. They’ve done a variety of different things. But usually all that in a bag of chips is the more common one. But, yeah, it comes from Black American English and, like a lot of terms, left the speech of Black Americans and entered the mainstream through the usual channels of popular culture. And it’s a little dated now, just so you know, and it’s not that used, but it’s out there.

Well, slang is a way of coming back around, too.

Yeah, who knows? Maybe much younger people will start saying it, thanks to you, Kylie.

I was going to say, maybe we’re trendsetting right now.

As we speak.

Maybe. Maybe not. We are all that in a jumbo bag of chips.

Thank you so much. That was very helpful.

All right.

Take care, Carla.

All right.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

Thanks for calling.

Bye-bye.

Well, if your slang is new or your slang is old, we’d love to talk about it. 877-929-9673.