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Date: | Tue, 23 Apr 2002 11:52:31 EDT |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition.
2000.
gunnysack
SYLLABICATION: gun·ny·sack
<A HREF="http://www.bartleby.com/61/12.html">PRONUNCIATION</A>: gn-sk
NOUN: Chiefly Western U.S. A bag or sack made of gunny. Also called
Regional <A HREF="http://www.bartleby.com/61/69/C0756900.html">croker sack</A>, Regional <A HREF="http://www.bartleby.com/61/21/T0292150.html">tow bag</A>, Regional <A HREF="http://www.bartleby.com/61/50/T0295050.html">tow sack</A>. Also called
regionally Regional <A HREF="http://www.bartleby.com/61/62/C0756200.html">crocus sack</A>. REGIONAL NOTE: A large sack made from
loosely woven, coarse material goes by a variety of names in regional
American English. The most general term is burlap bag, known everywhere but
used especially in the Northeast. In the Midwest and West the usual term is
gunnysack, which ultimately comes from the Sanskrit word gon, meaning “jute
or hemp fiber.” In the Upper South such a sack is called a tow sack, and in
Eastern North Carolina, a tow bag. (The word tow is another synonym for
fabric made from jute or hemp and probably derives from an Old English word
for “spinning.”) In South Carolina and adjacent parts of Georgia, it is
called a crocus sack, and in the Gulf states, a croker sack, both terms
deriving from the word crocus. According to Craig M. Carver, who draws on the
research of Walter S. Avis, “Crocus is a coarse, loosely woven material once
worn by slaves and laborers and common in colonial New England. It probably
took its name from the sacks in which crocus or saffron was shipped.” Though
the term crocus sack virtually disappeared from New England by the end of the
19th century, it survives in the South
Growing up just prior to WWII, these sacks were generally not burlap but a
rough white material that usually has print and other images. They usually
contained seed or other agricultural matter. Called them crocus sacks.
Peter in Richmond
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