+mvhayes1982 Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 The threads on this forum about the quantity and quality (or lack thereof) swag in caches are numerous (and all exactly the same). My question is, why in the heck do we all capitalize SWAG every time we type it? Quote Link to comment
+skramble Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 (edited) 21 minutes ago, mvhayes1982 said: The threads on this forum about the quantity and quality (or lack thereof) swag in caches are numerous (and all exactly the same). My question is, why in the heck do we all capitalize SWAG every time we type it? Just a Silly Wild A** Guess, but maybe it's Stuff We All Get? Edited August 8, 2017 by skramble system is censoring me :-/ 1 Quote Link to comment
+RufusClupea Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 54 minutes ago, mvhayes1982 said: My question is, why in the heck do we all capitalize SWAG every time we type it? I wasn't aware that we all did. When all capitalized, it implies an acronym (take your pick which one). When not capitalized, there are still meanings that fit with geocaching. Merriam-Webster has an interesting (short) article on its etymology in this sense, as does Snopes. Quote Link to comment
+The Jester Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 Yep, most acronyms are capitalized. But this on is so common that it often isn't, besides 'swag' is a word meaning "stolen goods, or loot" so it's not always an acronym. Quote Link to comment
+Touchstone Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 Acronyms typically start out life in all Caps. They eventually fall into common usage, and for those that can easily be made into something resembling a word (e.g. scuba, laser, radar), they loose the capitalization. Link for reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acronym#Case Quote Link to comment
+CachedIronSkillet Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 SWAG: Small Wet Abandoned Gifts 3 Quote Link to comment
+RufusClupea Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 5 minutes ago, Schirf said: SWAG: Small Wet Abandoned Gifts Uh-oh... you may have started something... SWAG: Soggy Worthless And Grody 2 Quote Link to comment
+Isonzo Karst Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 (edited) We do not all capitalize swag. And swag is not an acroynm, though it's fun to reverse engineer it (Small Wet Abandoned Gifts, is good) (Stale Watery And Good-for-nothing ); except to someone working at Geocaching HQ some years back. Once it got on the site, it continues to have legs here. It's an old term with numerous meanings: loot as relates to piracy and theft, bundle of stuff (Oz), hence stuff - "the jolly swagman" (Waltzing Matilda)... and a bunch of drapery related meanings. Edited August 8, 2017 by Isonzo Karst 1 Quote Link to comment
+NYPaddleCacher Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 I kind of liked how it was spelled in another thread: schwag And pronounced that way too. 2 Quote Link to comment
+Isonzo Karst Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 Yep, for some reason schwag makes me want a beer, mmmm, beer is a Good Thing. I suppose beer and a braut, but I'm not that fond of braut... ;-) Quote Link to comment
+cerberus1 Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 10 hours ago, mvhayes1982 said: My question is, why in the heck do we all capitalize SWAG every time we type it? We haven't seen all doing it. Similar to Isonzo Karst maybe, I don't believe many think it's an acronym either. - It seems just another silly word, like Muggles, that stuck with the hobby. There used to be some program thingy where certain site-specific words would be "fixed" when posted here (capitals mostly), but guess that's changed ... or at least my posts ... If swag was meant to be all caps (I don't recall that...) , I'd think it would have been then. Quote Link to comment
+mvhayes1982 Posted August 8, 2017 Author Share Posted August 8, 2017 Pardon me for using "all" when I definitely meant "most". I assumed it wasn't an acronym, but couldn't figure out why else it might end up as SWAG so often. Quote Link to comment
+hzoi Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 I don't. To me, swag is the whatnot in caches, and SWAG is SouthWest Area Geocachers. 2 Quote Link to comment
+Manville Possum Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 Acronym for Stuff We All Got or Secretly We Are Geocachers. Junk found in geocaches. Quote Link to comment
+hzoi Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 21 minutes ago, Manville Possum said: Acronym for Stuff We All Got or Secretly We Are Geocachers. Junk found in geocaches. Nah. Swag has been around for over a century, not as an acronym. Quote Link to comment
+Manville Possum Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 2 minutes ago, hzoi said: Nah. Swag has been around for over a century, not as an acronym. In geocache talk it don't mean stolen loot though. Street talk, swag is low grade stuff. Kinda makes sense as to what I find left in geocaches. Quote Link to comment
+hzoi Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 Just now, Manville Possum said: In geocache talk it don't mean stolen loot though. Street talk, swag is low grade stuff. Kinda makes sense as to what I find left in geocaches. In the article it doesn't mean it, either. Maybe read the whole thing, then comment. Quote Link to comment
+Manville Possum Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 1 minute ago, hzoi said: In the article it doesn't mean it, either. Maybe read the whole thing, then comment. I did read it, maybe you should try and explain it better if I didn't understand correctly. We are all not as smart as you. Quote Link to comment
+thebruce0 Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 Many mean it and understand it as an acronym - even if it was originally (unbeknownst to them) a straightforward word. So yeah, could be either in today's common use. But I mostly see it used in word form, though I mentally associate it iwth 'stuff we all get'. Depends who you talk to. But in geocaching terms, that's what the word refers to - stuff we all get. Generally speaking. There are exceptions. 1 Quote Link to comment
+hzoi Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 58 minutes ago, Manville Possum said: I did read it, maybe you should try and explain it better if I didn't understand correctly. You're right. I could have written that better. Didn't mean to offend. Sorry if I did. Quote Link to comment
+Viajero Perdido Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 When I see SWAG in capitals, I think Stupid Wild-Assed Guess, a term from the software world. (When will it be ready? Lemme work up a SWAG for you.) Quote Link to comment
+niraD Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 6 minutes ago, Viajero Perdido said: When I see SWAG in capitals, I think Stupid Wild-Assed Guess, a term from the software world. (When will it be ready? Lemme work up a SWAG for you.) I've heard other variations of the acronym: Silly Wild-a** Guess, Scientific Wild-a** Guess, etc. But Stuff We All Get, Small Wet Abandoned Gifts, and other variations are backronyms for the existing word swag. Quote Link to comment
+bflentje Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 On 8/8/2017 at 4:46 AM, Isonzo Karst said: We do not all capitalize swag. This. Not only that, I don't think I've ever used the word swag. Crap or geojunk, perhaps, but not swag. 1 Quote Link to comment
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