The etymology of Bags! - a simple case of voicing?

• The article questions the traditional view that the exclamatory fomula "Bags I", used to claim something, derives from the verb "to bag". An alternative view is argued for, viz. that "Bags!" represents the Latin-based exclamation "Pax!" after voicing of the consonant phonemes. The voicing is viewed as a result of school-children's play with words or of regional accents or a combination of both. The article also notes that English-Swedish and Swedish-English dictionaries have made this connection since the 1930s and 1940s, respectively, but it has never been commented on explicitly before.

Subject headings

HUMANIORA  -- Språk och litteratur -- Studier av enskilda språk (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Languages and Literature -- Specific Languages (hsv//eng)

Keyword

etymology

sociolinguistics

phonetics

lexicography

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)