Why do we capitalize SWAG

[+mvhayes1982]

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?

[+skramble]

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 :-/

[+RufusClupea]

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.

[+The Jester]

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.

[+Touchstone]

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

[+CachedIronSkillet]

SWAG: Small Wet Abandoned Gifts

 

[+RufusClupea]

5 minutes ago, Schirf said:

SWAG: Small Wet Abandoned Gifts

Uh-oh... you may have started something...    SWAG: Soggy Worthless And Grody

[+Isonzo Karst]

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

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I kind of liked how it was spelled in another thread: schwag

And pronounced that way too.

[+Isonzo Karst]

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... ;-) 

[+cerberus1]

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.

[+mvhayes1982]

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. 

[+hzoi]

I don't.  To me, swag is the whatnot in caches, and SWAG is SouthWest Area Geocachers.

[+Manville Possum]

Acronym for Stuff We All Got or Secretly We Are Geocachers. Junk found in geocaches.

[+hzoi]

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.

[+Manville Possum]

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.

[+hzoi]

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. 

[+Manville Possum]

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.

[+thebruce0]

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.

[+hzoi]

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.

[+Viajero Perdido]

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.)

[+niraD]

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.

[+bflentje]

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.