Bag Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘storm’ and now look at ‘bag’.

In the bag has been seen since 1922, it is used to describe something assured.

Left holding the bag, meaning ‘cheated, swindled’, is seen as early as 1793.

Let the cat out of the bag is seen from 1760, and likely comes from the French Acheter chat en poche or ‘buy a cat in a bag’.

Moneybags, to describe a rich person, is seen from 1818.

Grab-bag, used to describe a miscellaneous mixture, is first recorded in 1854.

Beanbag is first seen in 1871, but this was something used in children’s games and nobody had the larger version to sit on until 1969.

Airbags, the vehicle safety feature, is seen from 1970 and as a device for raising sunken vessels from 1836.

Bodybags have been around for the deceased since 1967, prior to that the same term described a kind of sleeping bag.

Mailbags have only ever been used to carry the mail, first described as such in 1794.

Bagpipes have been known as such since the 14th century, although a better description came in 1912 when a English Army officers referred to them as ‘agony bags’.

Nosebag, the way to feed a horse, is seen from 1796.

Nobody carried a handbag before 1854.

Bean Idioms

Several words have found themselves used in a number of phrases. We looked at 'food' last time and this time it's 'bean'.

Baked beans have been (pun intended) since 1803.

Kidney bean is first recorded in the 1560s, so called because of its shape.

Runner bean is seen from around 1900, a reference to the long shoots which run out from the parent plant.

Bean counter, a slang term for an accountant, is first recorded in 1971.

Bean shooter, an Americansism for a catapult, is recorded from 1876.

Bean bag appears in print from 1871.

Lima beans are first seen in 1756, although mispronounced as it should rhyme with ‘beamer’ and not ‘timer’, the vegetable named after the capital of Peru where the vegetable is held to have come.

Old bean, a term of endearment but usually restricted to those of the upper classes and to males, came into being during the First World War. Sadly nobody knows where it started.