I’ve just had a “full circle” moment.
It began yesterday, when I met with Rory Fitzpatrick (Irondequoit, NY Town Supervisor) and Shannon Grieve (Irondequoit Recreation Department Director) for a congratulatory event. I was being recognized for having come up with the name for my town’s new quarterly Activity Guide/Newsletter.
I even had my picture taken, and I received a sweet “swag bag,” too, complete with a blanket, pad, pen, holiday ornament, extra bag, and not one but two water bottles. I felt like a celebrity.
which in English means “where the land and waters meet.”
The name I’d submitted for the publication, “Eye on Irondequoit,” was one of 25 entries, and Shannon said mine was the clear winner. The town even designed a new newsletter logo to go with the name: a round lens looking out toward the Rochester Harbor Light, a local landmark where Irondequoit Bay meets Lake Ontario.
After taking my swag out of my swag bag, and reading the origin of the word “Irondequoit” that was written on the outside of the bag, I got to wondering about the origin of the word “swag.” And my search for the answer to this question eventually led me full circle, as you will see.
I found as many definitions of swag as there were items in my swag bag (seven). According to the internet, “swag” can mean:
- the act of swaying or lurching,
- self-confidence,
- a style of drapery,
- money,
- stolen goods,
- the shape of one’s stomach,
- or free promotional items.
In fact, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary hails the word “swag” as one of the most “polysemous” words in the English language. I had to look up “polysemous.” It’s just another way of saying “having multiple meanings.”
To make things even more confusing, there are several different explanations for the origin of the word “swag.” It might come from:
- Old Norse sveggja (to swing or sway);
- Old English swingan (to swing)
- Middle English swaggen, swagen, swoggen (probably from Old Norse — see above)
- Norwegian svaga (to sway, swing, stagger)
- 18th century British thieves’ slang
It might even be related to the root word swage, which had to do with the bending of cold metal, which in turn came from the French suer (to sweat).
According to the fact-checking website Snopes, the word swag has been falsely rumored to be an acronym for phrases such as:
- Stuff We All Get
- Stuff We Ain’t Got
- Scientific Wild Arsed Guess
- Souvenirs, Wearables, And Gifts
- Sold Without A Guarantee
- Secretly We Are Gay
Snopes also tells us that, in Australia, a swag can be a bundle of belongings, and, in addition, a large quantity of something.
I’ve read that the first written use of the word “swagger” wasn’t until the late 16th century:
Puck: “What hempen home-spuns have we swaggering here, so near the cradle of the fairy queen?”
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, “A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM”
And, last but not least, the word “swag” has been referred to as the 2011 Hip-Hop Word of the Year.
But MY first encounter with the word “swag” was on the TV show Parks and Recreation, where my favorite character, Tom Haverford, created a business called “Rent-A-Swag.”
And as I was writing that last paragraph, I realized I’ve come full circle, because I began with my meeting with the Recreation Department Director — my own town’s version of Leslie Knope. (Parks and Recreation fans will know who she is.)
Don’t you just love it when things come full circle? And now I think I’ll go and fill up my Irondequoit Rec water bottle, grab my Irondequoit Rec blanket, and go to the park. Either that, or I’ll take my swag bag into the living room, park myself in front of the TV, and watch an old episode of Parks and Recreation.
loristory 