wag

[Wilson Gray]

On Nov 17, 2004, at 1:16 PM, Mark A. Mandel wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Mark A. Mandel" <mamandel at LDC.UPENN.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: wag
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> Some info from our friend in North Carolina:
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> I tried to do some research but I can't find any dictionary that
> defines
> "wag" in the way I used it nor any history.  It must be a southern
> colloquialism.  I don't ever remember using this term until I moved to
> North
> Carolina.  Here it means to carry/drag something heavy or cumbersome.

I can't say for certain whether "wag" is used when something is
dragged. But "heavy or cumbersome" - absolutely! It could be two
shopping bags full of groceries, one in each hand, or it could be a
three-year-old, say, that still wants to be carried everywhere like a
baby or a week's worth of laundry, etc. or almost anything else that
forces the use of both arms, though a baby could be wagged in only one
arm, since the other arm would be carrying a bottle, a blanket or other
baby-type stuff.

What about the used-only-by-women aspect? Is that true in NC, too?

-Wilson

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> -- Mark A. Mandel
> [This text prepared with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.]
>