Handbag: What Americans Call a Purse
A handbag is a bag carried in the hand or on the shoulder. Britain and America disagree about the word, and football uses it for a scuffle.
A handbag is a small bag for personal belongings. The Atlantic divides the vocabulary: what Britain calls a handbag, America calls a purse, and what Britain calls a purse — the small thing for coins — America calls a wallet. British football commentary has a third use: *handbags* means a scuffle where nobody really intends to fight.
- A small bag for personal items (British). *She left her handbag on the seat.*
- Purse — the American word for the same thing. *Her purse was stolen.*
- Handbags — a harmless scuffle (British slang). *Just handbags at half-time.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | handbag | A leather handbag. |
| Plural | handbags | Designer handbags. |
| American | purse | A shoulder purse. |
| Related | clutch | A small clutch. |
| Related | tote | A canvas tote. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Keep your handbag closed on the tube.British English.
- She dug in her purse for the keys.American English for the same object.
- It was handbags, and both were booked.Football slang, always plural.
Bags by shape
- Clutch — small, held in the hand, no strap
- Tote — large, open, two handles
- Satchel — flat, with a flap and a long strap
- Shoulder bag — worn on one shoulder
- Cross-body — a strap over the opposite shoulder
A compound of *hand* and *bag*, recorded from the nineteenth century when travel bags were carried by hand. The football sense is a twentieth-century joke about people flapping at each other.
Handbag or purse?
British handbag equals American purse. British purse equals American wallet or change purse.
What does *handbags* mean in football?
A brief pushing match with no real violence, so called because the players look as though they are swatting each other.