Sag Wagon - Page 3 - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

05-12-2004, 11:46 AM

On Wed, 12 May 2004 16:46:59 GMT, John Everett
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].BOTS.net> wrote in message
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>:

>We've had some debates on rec.bicycling.* over the years on the origin
>of the term, which is commonly used here. Is this a common British
>term or something Phil has picked up on his travels? If the former,
>does anyone know the origin?

Old-style cycling term, for sure. I am pretty confident, as the
others are, that "Support And Gear" (or the recursive Sag And Gear)
are backronyms; sag is less used now but certainly used to be in
common parlance for running out of steam, as in "sagging".

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
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88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

05-12-2004, 06:33 PM

>> Yes, it is a well used term and not a Liggettism.
>> Some believe it comes from the word sagging, I.e.,
>> sagging off the back. Others believe it is an acronym
>> for Support And Gear. Take your pick :-)
>
> I'm pretty sure it predates the term 'gear'
> (gear meaning 'stuff' or equipment -
> which I think is a late '60s term)

1860s, maybe.

"And if thou thinkest the price be high, in steer and gear and stack,
Give me my father's mare again, and I'll fight my own way back!"
-- Rudyard Kipling, "The Ballad of East and West" (1889)

05-12-2004, 06:33 PM

>> Yes, it is a well used term and not a Liggettism.
>> Some believe it comes from the word sagging, I.e.,
>> sagging off the back. Others believe it is an acronym
>> for Support And Gear. Take your pick :-)
>
> I'm pretty sure it predates the term 'gear'
> (gear meaning 'stuff' or equipment -
> which I think is a late '60s term)

1860s, maybe.

"And if thou thinkest the price be high, in steer and gear and stack,
Give me my father's mare again, and I'll fight my own way back!"
-- Rudyard Kipling, "The Ballad of East and West" (1889)

05-12-2004, 06:33 PM

>> Yes, it is a well used term and not a Liggettism.
>> Some believe it comes from the word sagging, I.e.,
>> sagging off the back. Others believe it is an acronym
>> for Support And Gear. Take your pick :-)
>
> I'm pretty sure it predates the term 'gear'
> (gear meaning 'stuff' or equipment -
> which I think is a late '60s term)

1860s, maybe.

"And if thou thinkest the price be high, in steer and gear and stack,
Give me my father's mare again, and I'll fight my own way back!"
-- Rudyard Kipling, "The Ballad of East and West" (1889)

05-12-2004, 06:33 PM

>> Yes, it is a well used term and not a Liggettism.
>> Some believe it comes from the word sagging, I.e.,
>> sagging off the back. Others believe it is an acronym
>> for Support And Gear. Take your pick :-)
>
> I'm pretty sure it predates the term 'gear'
> (gear meaning 'stuff' or equipment -
> which I think is a late '60s term)

1860s, maybe.

"And if thou thinkest the price be high, in steer and gear and stack,
Give me my father's mare again, and I'll fight my own way back!"
-- Rudyard Kipling, "The Ballad of East and West" (1889)

05-12-2004, 06:33 PM

>> Yes, it is a well used term and not a Liggettism.
>> Some believe it comes from the word sagging, I.e.,
>> sagging off the back. Others believe it is an acronym
>> for Support And Gear. Take your pick :-)
>
> I'm pretty sure it predates the term 'gear'
> (gear meaning 'stuff' or equipment -
> which I think is a late '60s term)

1860s, maybe.

"And if thou thinkest the price be high, in steer and gear and stack,
Give me my father's mare again, and I'll fight my own way back!"
-- Rudyard Kipling, "The Ballad of East and West" (1889)