English to French translation

Bagsy

July 1, 2010

“Would you like this last bit of summer pudding, Céline?” asked my mother-in-law.
“No, thank you,” said I. “However, I think I will bagsy it for tomorrow.”
Rarely had my in-laws’ dining-room witnessed such outrageous behaviour, which was swiftly condemned by all present. You can’t bagsy pudding for the day after! Was the consensus around the table.

I’ve always loved this very useful concept, which is handily conveyed by the verb “bagsy” in English. There is a French equivalent, preums, (prem’s or preumz, etc), but it is an interjection, which is not as malleable as a verb and is only really useful in the present. So you can imagine my disappointment when my clever move to secure the last bit of summer pudding was firmly denied.

The origin of the French word seems obvious (premier means “first”) and the Oxford English Dictionary tells us that bagsy comes from “bags I” and has examples from 1866 onwards.

Word detective also tells us that

A child in Southern England [...] might exclaim "Bags it" or "Baggsy," whereupon by the sacred code of children the prize is hers. Her London counterpart might say "Squits," and still further north a child would say "Foggy," "Furry" or "Firsy." Other words which seem to work as well include "Barley," "Bollars," "Jigs" and, in Scotland, "Chaps" or "Chucks." Our American friends favour "dibs".

Summer pudding photo by moleitau.

Comments

Well I, for one, learned something today. I'd never heard of either "bagsy" or "summer pudding." Certainly here in North America, if you'd said "I'll bagsy it for tomorrow," you would have received a blank stare, not because of the (admittedly) outrageous idea of wanting to do so, but because no one would have the (ahem) foggiest idea of what you were talking about.

No, over here, we would say, much more sensibly, "I'll take the rest in a doggie bag."

You do use "shotgun" to bagsy the seat next to the driver in a car, don't you?

I think bagsy is slightly different from asking for a doggie bag, as it implies that there might have been competition for the coveted and object, where there is no such thing with a doggie bag. I think.

I do love the idea of "bagsy" and think it is a word we North Americans could use. It certainly is new to me as well. And it is good to know now that you cannot bagsy pudding. I'll make a note of it. Luckily I have enough British friends to know that "pudding" is used to describe what we would just call "dessert" across the pond. It does look delicious, by the way.

I come from "further north" but had never heard of furry or foggy for the purpose of laying first claim on it (you're right, it's a different idea from the doggy-bag). We, in South Yorkshire, always used "to bag" as a verb or "bagsy" as an interjection, although maybe we were influenced by Enid Blyton books!
You could (and we did) "bag" first go with a new toy, or "bag" the coloured balloon you prefer etc, not only food and sweets.

I don't think we have a word for the concept in Australian English.

Growing up as antipodean postwar children of the empire, we said emphatically: "I bags it!" (with the "I" up front). I don't know if the playgrounds of the 21st Century still resound with "I bags it".

"Doggy bag" was a US import in the late 20th century. Use of the phrase has since been curtailed by two unlinked, local government regulations: Firstly, health department regulations preventing restaurants from providing them; and, secondly, municipal authorities requiring dog owners to carry "dog bags" for the purpose of excrement disposal.

"Barley" on the other hand (variants: "barley Charlie" or "barlies" said so as to rhyme with "lease") was a call for a cessation of hostilities. I have since read that it apparently derives from parlez/parley.

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