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Exodejavu Posted 17 years ago
Vocabulary

Bags; bag and baggage

Hi,
I was reading a short story about King Edward VIII, or the Duke of Windsor. (Dainty, Peter. The Love of a King. Oxford University Press, 2000)

A sentence goes:
Wallis packed her bags and left for France.

I checked "bag" in two dictionaries, and found an expression "bag and baggage," with a label "British" in the two dictionaries.
I was thinking that "bags" might be an alternative expression of "bag and baggage," right?

Is "bag and baggage" always singular?
Can I write: I am packing my bags and baggages ?
  

Top answer

"Bag and Baggage" is an idiom (British English) - it means"all the things that you own". We were told we'd have to be out of the house, bag and baggage, in a week's time. In American English, a similar phrase is "lock, stock and barrel"

— AlpheccaStars

  • "Bag and Baggage" is an idiom (British English) - it means"all the things that you own".
  • We were told we'd have to be out of the house, bag and baggage, in a week's time.
  • In American English, a similar phrase is "lock, stock and barrel"
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3 Answers
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"Bag and Baggage" is an idiom (British English) - it means"all the things that you own". We were told we'd have to be out of the house, bag and baggage, in a week's time.
In American English, a similar phrase is "lock, stock and barrel"
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Thanks.

So ... is it that the "bags" in the sentence doesn't mean "bag and baggage"?
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She packed her bag and left for France. bag here is what we often call a suitcase in the US.

From the explanation offered, I'm assuming that "bag and baggage" is a fixed phrase. [I'm always very happy to learn new expressions here on the forums.]
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