Dragaera

SKJB / Dream Cafe' swag ideas

Matthew Klahn mklahn at mac.com
Wed Dec 8 12:39:19 PST 2004

On Wednesday, December 08, 2004, at 02:29PM, Jerry Friedman <jerry_friedman at yahoo.com> wrote:
.stanford.edu> wrote:
>
>> 
>> 
>> On Tue, 7 Dec 2004, Johne Cook wrote:
>> 
>> > And there you have it.  What swag would you like to see?
>
>I'm not familiar with this use of "swag".  Is it a fan thing?
>(The Internet is my only contact with fandom.)

>From urbandictionary.com:
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1. swag

Promotional merchandise for a band, record label, or other entity in the music business, usually distributed at concerts.

May include t-shirts, stickers, promo CDs, posters, etc. Often free, but not necessarily; a t-shirt or record purchased at a concert might still be considered swag, especially if it is a design or release that is not readily available in the mass market.

Many independent record labels throw in a handful of free swag when they ship out mail-order packages (stickers, sampler CDs, etc).

The chief difference between swag and regular merchandise is that its purpose is not to make a profit, but to promote the band/label, and reward its supporters by giving them something cool and unique.

I picked up some great swag at the concert last night.
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For all entries:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=swag&r=f

Someone below attributes this term to an acronym "Stuff We All Get", but I don't think that's accurate. Actually, I think that it is an older term meaning "stolen goods" as in this entry at dict.org:

===========================
>From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) :

  Swag \Swag\, n.
     1. A swaying, irregular motion.
  
     2. A burglar's or thief's booty; boodle. [Cant or Slang]
        --Charles Reade.
============================

Usage of the term as first defined above has been expanded by the online community to include websites.

Tongue-in-Cheek Disclaimer: I'm not a search engine, nor do I play one on TV. Usage of resources like urbandictionary.com, dict.org and google.com is highly recommended to everyone.

Matthew Klahn