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The nicest comment I ever heard

Messages
10,584
Location
Boston area
WOW! You guys are amazing, and thanks to everyone for jumping onboard. I never thought this much conversation would have been provoked, and now know a lot more about swag than yesterday. Living in one of the most ethnically diverse towns in the US, (pop. 31,000; about 60 languages are spoken) I thought I knew the term from its current use by the youth of today. Funny how words morph, evolve, return.

She may have (or most likely) hoped to sell me an extra muffin anyway...
 

Bob Roberts

I'll Lock Up
Messages
11,201
Location
milford ct
Courtesy Wikipedia:

"In the early 1800s, the term swag was used by British thieves to describe any amount of stolen goods. One definition given in Francis Grose's 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue is "any booty you have lately obtained,.... To carry the swag is to be the bearer of the stolen goods to a place of safety."[3] James Hardy Vaux, a convict in Australia, used the term for similar purposes in his memoirs written in 1812 and published in 1819.[4] By the 1830s, the term in Australia had transferred from meaning goods acquired by a thief to the possessions and daily necessaries carried by a bushman. The compound swagman and colloquial variation swaggie first appeared in the 1850s during the Australian gold rushes, alongside less common terms such as bundleman.[5] New Zealanders adopted the term in the 1880s, where swagmen were also known as swaggers.[6] Swagger also originated in Australia, but became obsolete there by the 1890s.[7]"

"Waltzing Matilda"??? Thx for saving me the research time!
 

Joao Encarnado

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,776
Location
Portugal
Last weekend went to diner in swedish furniture mega-store IKEA (they have a restaurant there were they serve swedish meatballs) with some friends.
I was wearing MY HAT still unfinished when one of the servants asked me if a friend of her could take a picture with me.
I don't know who they were thinking I was, but I though it was a nice comment so I allowed it. Also my friends took pictures.
We earn extra sauce on the meatballs ;)

IKEA20150516.jpg
 

Bob Roberts

I'll Lock Up
Messages
11,201
Location
milford ct
Last weekend went to diner in swedish furniture mega-store IKEA (they have a restaurant there were they serve swedish meatballs) with some friends.
I was wearing MY HAT still unfinished when one of the servants asked me if a friend of her could take a picture with me.
I don't know who they were thinking I was, but I though it was a nice comment so I allowed it. Also my friends took pictures.
We earn extra sauce on the meatballs ;)

IKEA20150516.jpg

Thats is nice! And their Swedish Meatballs aint bad either. They obviously thought you were famous...
 

T Jones

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,795
Location
Central Ohio
Last weekend went to diner in swedish furniture mega-store IKEA (they have a restaurant there were they serve swedish meatballs) with some friends.
I was wearing MY HAT still unfinished when one of the servants asked me if a friend of her could take a picture with me.
I don't know who they were thinking I was, but I though it was a nice comment so I allowed it. Also my friends took pictures.
We earn extra sauce on the meatballs ;)

IKEA20150516.jpg

Geez! There's enough room under that brim for all three of you!
 

Joao Encarnado

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,776
Location
Portugal
Thats is nice! And their Swedish Meatballs aint bad either. They obviously thought you were famous...
My only complain is that those are small. But IKEA serve them by quantity: 12 ou 15.

Well, Joao, maybe it's the novelty. Do they see alot of western headwear in Portugal?

Or yeah, maybe they thought you were in ZZ Top.
No, not much fedora wearers and even less western hats.
I speak too well Portuguese so they would know I'm not foreign.

Geez! There's enough room under that brim for all three of you!
True ;)
 

casechopper

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,783
Location
Northern NJ
I was at Shoprite (supermarket) a couple of nights ago in my VS Max hat and had 3 different guys compliment my hat. The first guy was ringing me up and said "nice hat", the second guy was panhandling in front of the liquor store. After I declined to contribute to his fund he said "that's a nice hat!" then, when I was further away I heard him say to a friend "he's really working that hat!". Then, entering Shoprite I almost ran into a ~60 year old guy in a stingy straw who was on his way out who exclaimed "Sweet Brim!" very loudly and then seemed to be at a loss for words. I think he was a bit shocked to see a white guy in a hat. This isn't normal. I very rarely get more than 1 comment in a day.
 
Last edited:

bowlerman

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,294
Location
South Dakota
That's a nice story, Sam. I have found much more hat enthusiasm in the general public lately. I hope it's a trend that will stick.

Joao, what a great photo!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

tropicalbob

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,954
Location
miami, fl
Funny you should mention that. I have abut 20 pairs of boots and shoes, some of them in the $400-500 range, but the only ones I get compliments on are my $35 huarache sandals: three compliments in the last couple of weeks.
Back on topic: does it ever happen to you guys that someone compliments you on your hat and you forgot you had one on?
 

GHT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,793
Location
New Forest
It wasn't a comment, more a gesture. I was just putting my groceries into the car, the 65 year old MG, when a driver of a beautifully restored, 1966 MGB, pulled up into a parking lot just a few yards in front of me. He got out of his car, turned on his heel to face me, took of his floppy sun hat, with his hat in his hand, he outstretched his arm and bowed deeply. I touched my temple with my index finger and returned his salute. He had me smiling all the way home.
 

dnjan

One Too Many
Messages
1,690
Location
Seattle
Yesterday a guy sitting on a bench along the street gave me a thumbs-up as I approached, and when I got up to him he told me that I "looked like a million bucks".
I was wearing some carhart slacks, a plain, button-down white shirt, a somewhat wrinkled linen vest, and my ArtLite hat.
Must have been the hat ...
 

javadave61

Practically Family
Messages
891
Location
Harrisburg, PA
Yesterday a guy sitting on a bench along the street gave me a thumbs-up as I approached, and when I got up to him he told me that I "looked like a million bucks".
I was wearing some carhart slacks, a plain, button-down white shirt, a somewhat wrinkled linen vest, and my ArtLite hat.
Must have been the hat ...

Don't underestimate those carhardt slacks. [emoji106]
 

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