The replacement of the doggy bag

[Benjamin Barrett]

It seemed to me as a child that my grandmother used the word "doggy bag" as a euphemism for "a bag for me." (When she had a dog, she also used it to mean a bag for the dog.)

In my experience, buttressed by asking two people in the restaurant industry, people don't really use this expression much any more. They ask to get the rest to go.

If it's true that this expression is indeed dying out, I wonder whether it's because there is a higher level of acceptability in society for taking uneaten food home.

While looking on Google Images shows that this expression has not yet died out, it also shows that the "doggy bag" has taken on the meaning of a dog poop bag.

Benjamin Barrett
Formerly of Seattle, WA

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