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Sobey's bag
DCHP-2 (Nov 2013)
Spelling variants:Sobeys bag, sobeys bag
n. — Atlantic Canada, especially Nova Scotia & New Brunswick
a plastic bag.
Type: 3. Semantic Change — Sobeys is a grocery store chain founded in 1907, headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia (see Sobeys reference). As Chart 1 shows, the term is restricted to Canada, with sole exposure in three provinces. The term Sobey's bag has been generalized in the Maritimes to refer to any plastic grocery bag (see Chart 2). The quotations below demonstrate how the term is used in lieu of the generic term plastic bag, which is preferred in Central and Western Canada.
The term is not listed in COD-2, Gage-5, ITP Nelson, DNE or DPEIE.
The term is not listed in COD-2, Gage-5, ITP Nelson, DNE or DPEIE.
Note that the food store chain Sobeys, much like Tim Hortons, dropped the apostrophe from its name.
Quotations
1998
How could the parents with youngsters who were the first to arrive at the Easter eggs hoard the lot and leave none for the rest? I actually saw one nine- year-old with a full Sobey's bag of eggs coming out of the Blue Cross Building grinning ear to ear and hardly able to walk because of the weight.
2002
Either way, the neighbours and townsfolk came with casseroles, because that was the Maritime thing to do. The mayor brought a box of Ganong's chocolates wrapped in a Sobey's bag and Mrs. MacDonald found a nice receiving blanket that had been her daughter's.
2005
"There it was, lying at the foot of my driveway, in a Sobey's bag as wet as hell," Scott said, admitting he feels "pretty good" to get the flag back.
2005
A woman with a fistful of highlighted receipts and a dozen Sobeys bags, filled with everything from bathing suits to Christmas candles, held up the returns line one day a few weeks ago.
2012
"I had a Sobeys bag with a change of clothes and the clothes on my back. I found the dealers and I found the druggies and I went right back into it again. For about three or four months, I was at it hard again. But then I realized I moved for a reason."
2015
Even after I skimmed the Halifax site (www.halifax.ca/clear/) where it is all explained, I was still asking questions. You Know Who was concerned about where the litter goes under the new rules. Currently when he cleans the box, it goes into a Sobeys bag and then into a garbage bag. I was told we would now have to dump the Sobeys bag contents into the black bag. I was told wrong. According to the site, pet waste and diapers go “In a grocery store bag, then in the black bag.” There are a couple of other options as well, but that first one works for me.
References
- Sobeys • "Our Company"
- DPEIE
- COD-2
- ITP Nelson
- Gage-5
- DNE
Images
Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 20 Apr. 2016
