swag

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Thu, Nov 10, 2011 at 04:53:29AM -0500, Victor Steinbok wrote:
> Wilson may correct me on this, but is one of Obama's aides Australian?
>
> http://goo.gl/NSFEq
> >Internal Revenue Service mugs and Homeland Security sweatshirts may
> >soon become collector’s items.
> >
> >President Obama is set to unveil an executive order on Wednesday aimed
> >at cutting wasteful spending on excess travel, printing, cell phones
> >and government “swag.”
> >
> >The swag under fire includes plaques, clothing, mugs and other
> >agency-identified items distributed to employees.
>
> 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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