ditty bag
1
8.6
- noun
- /ˈdɪti bæɡ/
- Jargon
:
bolsa de aseo
- She always carried a ditty bag while sailing, ensuring it contained all her essential personal items.
Examples
-
My traveler's checks were still in the Guatemalan ditty bag.
Fiction book (1995) -
Luis, where's my little ditty bag? - The little bag.
-
When packing for his trip, he made sure to include a ditty bag filled with toiletries and a sewing kit.
-
The soldier kept his personal items in a small ditty bag for easy access while on the move.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A flexible container for carrying personal things like books or clothes
1
7.4
A small box for holding needles, pins, and buttons
1
3.0
A strong bag soldiers use to carry clothes and gear
A small waterproof bag for carrying soap and toothpaste when travelling
How Small
Surface Forms
Morphology
ditty + bag
Knowing the constituents does not yield the MWE meaning: 'bag' is transparent but 'ditty' is not a word meaning 'small' or 'personal items' (it commonly means a short song or is lexically obscure), so a learner would not infer 'a small sailors' kit bag' from the parts. The term is a specialized nautical/military item and its meaning is conventionalized rather than compositionally predictable, making it opaque to B1 learners.
Etymology
Ditty bag may come from an old word ditty meaning something small, so sailors kept a little bag of thread, soap and a toothbrush close at hand on the ship. That's why ditty bag now means 'a small bag for personal items'.