Friday, July 22, 2011

"Swag" not "Schwag"

I just went to my last Comic Con, the reasons for which I won't be addressing here.  One reason I won't miss it is that I will hear fewer people referring to the swag as "schwag".  I had hoped that this was just the latest incarnation of 133t speak or whatever they call the insane contractions people use in SMS messages.

Sadly, it turns out that it isn't.  Far too many people think that it is the historic term.  They need a fucking dictionary.

Here is a brief and abridged history of the word leading to it's current usage.  It was originally referred to a bulgy bag, later to miscellaneous belongings and still later, in the late eighteenth century, to stolen goods and finally, it's current usage,  to promotional shit.  Check the OED if you doubt me.

The trendoids "schwag" only goes back to 1995.

Yes, there is fun to be had with humorous mispronunciations, but be aware when you are doing it.  Fucking hipsters

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