swag

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Thu Nov 10 12:53:00 UTC 2011


We may have discussed this.  The retromythoacronymic derivation is
"Stuff  [or Shit] We All Get."

JL

On Thu, Nov 10, 2011 at 6:24 AM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: swag
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Indeed. The only "defense" I have is that indeed I wrote what I saw--not
> having scrolled to the very end, assuming, incorrectly, that updates to
> the main article would not follow all that other stuff... So, contrary
> to my earlier statement, OED appears to be ahead of most other
> dictionaries on this.
>
>     VS-)
>
> On 11/10/2011 6:00 AM, Jesse Sheidlower wrote:
>> The closest I see in OED is
>>>> 11. A great quantity of something (now chiefly Austral. and N.Z.); a
>>>> large draught of liquor (dial.). (Cf. Sc. swack.)
>>> The next closest is
>> Scroll down to the end, to sense a. in the Draft Additions September
>> 2008: "colloq. Items given away free, typically for promotional
>> purposes, to people attending an event, using a service, etc.", from
>> 1961-
>>
>> Jesse Sheidlower
>> OED
>
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