tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post3906639942304938140..comments2024-03-16T00:21:43.240+00:00Comments on Separated by a Common Language: bags, dibs, shotgunlynneguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-79635260417826036982020-04-08T19:39:19.825+01:002020-04-08T19:39:19.825+01:00I think that the use of the term "shotgun&quo...I think that the use of the term "shotgun" to bag the front seat in a car my come from the highway patrol and other law enforcement agencies. Two officers in the car, one driving and the other in the passenger seat. Often there is a shotgun in a holster on the dashboard of the car to he used by the passenger. I also have considered that this phrase came out of the bootlegger/moonshine runner culture during national prohibition of alcohol in the early 1900's.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11466730405639277267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-29848990402888011722019-05-24T19:36:43.638+01:002019-05-24T19:36:43.638+01:00BrE. Bagged him a bear when he was only three........BrE. Bagged him a bear when he was only three..... Davy Crocket etc.Shy-replyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01891566073375322808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-72577679357501646442017-02-27T18:43:22.052+00:002017-02-27T18:43:22.052+00:00Growing up in 1980s Port Elizabeth, South Africa, ...Growing up in 1980s Port Elizabeth, South Africa, we were influenced as much by US television as we were by the Beano and Dandy. So 'I bags', 'Bags I', 'Bagsy', 'Bagsies' were used just as often as 'I call dibs on' or, more often, actually calling out 'Dibs!' or 'Dibsies'. <br />That said. this is the first I've heard of using 'fain' or 'vain' for the opposite. We would say 'Nix' instead: 'Nix doing the dishes!' (and you had to show your hand with your middle finger crossed over your index finger, or else it didn't count).<br /><br />Calling shotgun always and only ever meant bagsying the front passenger seat.Matthewnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-17565408957577800722015-12-19T10:40:26.887+00:002015-12-19T10:40:26.887+00:00I'm also Australian (ACT/NSW/PNG)
"Shotg...I'm also Australian (ACT/NSW/PNG)<br /><br />"Shotgun" was not common in my cultural circles, yet it's meaning was specific to the front passenger seat.<br /><br />To "bags" was more common, though more often people would either hurriedly say "I'm taking/getting [this]" or they'd ask "Can I have [this]" and politeness would compel compliance (unless someone had a fervent rationale otherwise.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-73029715387621763512015-08-16T23:33:37.908+01:002015-08-16T23:33:37.908+01:00>>What's happened? The BrE speakers have...>>What's happened? The BrE speakers have heard Americans say shotgun in a place in a <br />>>situation in which they would have said bags(y), and didn't reali{z/s}e that there's<br />>> more meaning to shotgun than just 'I stake a claim on something'<br /><br />Another of these poor mistaken souls has edited the wikipedia page on dibs to say that in Australia and NZ "shotgun" means the same. I've now removed, since it wasn't supported by the citation. But the concerning thing is that the same people making the mistake with regard to the meaning of "calling shotgun" are now editing wikipedia entries. Scary. Zombie apocalypse indeed.<br /><br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dibs<br /><br />PS I'm an Australian living in Auckland.Anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06160004253675816695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-5574688118405443032015-04-04T06:56:32.318+01:002015-04-04T06:56:32.318+01:00American here, grew up in California and still wor...American here, grew up in California and still work in the West. "Shotgun" in the business world refers to taking a scattered and guessing approach. As in, "We don't know what price the market will bear, so we are going to shotgun it." Your example above with Twitter, would mean that the writer does not know what will happen, so they take their best guess.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-24060530367871806152014-04-18T06:47:10.322+01:002014-04-18T06:47:10.322+01:00Massachusetts age 25-
I would use dibs, unless it...Massachusetts age 25-<br /><br />I would use dibs, unless it's my bestie in which case it'd be "mine!"<br /><br />In regard to anti-dibs for chores I learned to touch my nose with my index finger while saying "Not it!".<br /><br />For "bag me a seat" I would use save me a seat.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02138260302522477243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-89656228653404378562013-09-24T02:05:15.194+01:002013-09-24T02:05:15.194+01:00I am an American at (in? I can't remember what...I am an American at (in? I can't remember what I use. Nothing sounds right now) University in the UK, and my British (English) mates keep calling 'shotgun not' to get out of doing things they don't want to like buying the next round of pints. I can't keep up because there is never a car in sight, plus shotgun is something I want not something I avoid.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16336060898958851975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-72473184157252004502013-07-29T18:01:50.047+01:002013-07-29T18:01:50.047+01:00I'm Irish and as a child with my friends I wou...I'm Irish and as a child with my friends I would say "I dibs it" or "I pegs it". Ian Mac Eochagáinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08807587737403861042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-17617343258421129492012-11-06T22:47:11.013+00:002012-11-06T22:47:11.013+00:00I'll just reiterate nic's citing of "...I'll just reiterate nic's citing of "bars I"/"I bars" as a (Victorian, at least) Australian synonym for "bags I"/"I bags".<br /><br />The "pax" word was "barley".Andrewnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-49250837798129882152012-10-12T05:12:54.622+01:002012-10-12T05:12:54.622+01:00I don't think "shotgun" is completel...I don't think "shotgun" is completely ubiquitous across the US. In SoCal we would <i>"call the front"</i> (sometimes "front seat"), but in the Intermountain-West region and further east everyone called <i>"shotgun"</i>. <i>"Dibs"</i> is common everywhere.<br /><br />To "call" something, or "call dibs", is also consistent.<br /><br />"Shotgun" has strong historic connotations, coming from the standard arm carried by the navigator/support person on a stagecoach, that is still implied today. That is, to call shotgun is to not only get the front passenger seat, but also to support the driver with directions, smartphone searches, texting, and food/drinks, among other things. I think the implications would be completely lost to a non-native AmE speaker, even if they knew it was a term for the front seat.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-46272936189512426722012-08-26T17:16:11.053+01:002012-08-26T17:16:11.053+01:00Definitely 'baggsy' on the Wirral in the l...Definitely 'baggsy' on the Wirral in the late 50s/early 60s.<br /><br />I use 'first dibs' a lot now, but I probably picked up that and other AmE expressions from 10 years marriage to (and ongoing friendship with) an American.<br />enitharmonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17829757748223670291noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-90681868703707800362011-07-05T00:40:45.987+01:002011-07-05T00:40:45.987+01:00"I doubt I would have been able to make sense..."<i>I doubt I would have been able to make sense of it.</i>"<br />When did that come in? It always used to be "doubt whether" or "doubt if" - in England, anyway.Little Black Sambohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16699227938165106710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-17837840264492738532010-11-28T00:31:52.121+00:002010-11-28T00:31:52.121+00:00I'm English and 23. As a child, bags I would h...I'm English and 23. As a child, bags I would have been understood but wasn't in current use (a bit too Enid Blyton). Shotgun to me sounds very very American but the sense of it being the front seat would have been understood. We said "you're it" and to stop being made it we would cross our fingers to not the the "lurgy" Pax is something my grandparents said.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-30415723213911905462010-11-26T07:34:44.934+00:002010-11-26T07:34:44.934+00:00I'm 20 in central queensland. I can't rem...I'm 20 in central queensland. I can't remember what I used when I was younger, but I think it was an assortment of 'bags', 'dibs', 'call' and 'shotgun'.<br />Now, among my friends it's exclusively 'shotgun' or 'shotty' for everything, along with 'shotgun/shotty not'. It is most often used in the phrase 'shotty the front'<br />Oh, and it's labelled as 'the shotgun rule' "Oi stuff you, you can't ignore the shotgun rule!"<br /><br />"On the subject of pax, at prep school (BrE, private school for 8-13 year olds) in the 1960s if someone said "safety" after making a nasty smell, others could not chastise you, but if someone said "sixers" before you said safety, they could hit you 6 times."<br /><br />This came back into fashion in Queensland a few years back, with 'sixers' replaced with 'six fish', in which you need to list six types of fish, and the caller can keep punching you until you do. I'm shocked this has been around since the 60s!Joeldipopsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-61484853458959462692010-10-21T09:19:30.272+01:002010-10-21T09:19:30.272+01:00I know in my family a phrase like "no bitch&q...I know in my family a phrase like "no bitch" would have gotten me in serious trouble.Juliehttp://www.julieannmaahs.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-68861853317854640752010-10-20T01:24:31.393+01:002010-10-20T01:24:31.393+01:00Here's one for the young and feckless: Ever ca...Here's one for the young and feckless: Ever call 'mine' when you're out and someone hot walks in or you're somewhere you go often and a new person turns up?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-68718962685024637662010-10-20T01:14:53.807+01:002010-10-20T01:14:53.807+01:00I'm AmE, and I'd say either "dibs&quo...I'm AmE, and I'd say either "dibs" or probably more frequently "I call X". Shotgun is definitely only for the front seat, and you have to be in sight of the car to say it. @Ed Cormany, definitely agree on calling "no bitch" if you can't get shotgun. That middle seat is the worst.<br /><br />On a somewhat related note, we'd also call "fives" if you were sitting in a chair, and got up and wanted to make sure no one sat down before you got back.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15082371254865710473noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-70750268695460138132010-10-19T01:35:50.308+01:002010-10-19T01:35:50.308+01:00Haha, I was refraining from hyperpedantry with reg...Haha, I was refraining from hyperpedantry with regards driving age regulations! You win.<br /><br />It occurred to me that I would use <b>dibs</b> bt only in a descriptive and probably historical sense, and always collocated with 'first.<br /><br />To 'bag' a seat etc I would say is a different thing to bagsy, because it means you have secured a coveted thing, whereas you would shout 'bagsy' etc in instances where it was not possible for you to get the thing by fair means. The theory that it is taken from literally using a bag as a marker seems very likely, but wouoldn't make much sense with regard to the last piece of cake, say.Solohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09740368155249391858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-22372622414190482062010-10-18T18:35:53.448+01:002010-10-18T18:35:53.448+01:00---"I don't think a station wagon derives...---"I don't think a station wagon derives from railway stations. "-----<br /><br />And a two-minute search on the internet proves you wrong.<br /><i>Station wagon in the automobile sense is first recorded 1929, from earlier use for a horse-drawn conveyance that took passengers to and from railroad stations (1894)</i><br />http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=station+wagon&searchmode=noneUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05952564820382472228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-17872044061422267552010-10-17T21:27:30.156+01:002010-10-17T21:27:30.156+01:00I don't think a station wagon derives from rai...I don't think a station wagon derives from railway stations. I'm sure it is correct that an estate car is one used on a country estate in the English sense. I think the derivation of a station wagon is basically the same, with 'station' being the Australian or somewhere else's equivalent, a large agricultural property.Drunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-73264143752134851962010-10-17T17:15:50.874+01:002010-10-17T17:15:50.874+01:00North of England 1960s: we used "bags I"...North of England 1960s: we used "bags I", not "bagsy". "I bag" would have been understood, but I don't think it was generally used.David Younghttp://www.cogs.susx.ac.uk/users/davidy/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-4877301749265451592010-10-17T05:10:53.783+01:002010-10-17T05:10:53.783+01:00My intuition matches Doug's. That's the la...My intuition matches Doug's. That's the language used in license pamphlets for those sports.Juliehttp://www.julieannmaahs.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-18128311871851787602010-10-16T20:45:56.777+01:002010-10-16T20:45:56.777+01:00I assume that a station wagon is a car for getting...I assume that a station wagon is a car for getting your stuff from the railway station to your house, while an estate car is for driving around your estate (perhaps taking your lunch to the bothy during a pheasant shoot). My mother used to call them shooting brakes which is similar to estate car. All completely off-topic, sorry Lynne.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-43242054085289945592010-10-16T05:22:59.398+01:002010-10-16T05:22:59.398+01:00By the way, what's the story with "statio...By the way, what's the story with "station wagon" and "estate car"? Is one of these expressions derived from the other? Sounds unlikely, but the two arising independently sounds unlikely, too.emptyhttp://voidplay.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.com