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In the Bag

"In the bag" is an idiomatic expression in English denoting that a victory, success, or achievement is virtually assured or already secured.^[1]^[2] The phrase conveys a sense of certainty, often used in contexts like sports, business, or competitions where the outcome appears inevitable. The idiom emerged in the early 20th century in American English, with its most widely accepted origin tied to baseball.^[3] Specifically, it is linked to the New York Giants team in the 1910s, who followed a superstition: when leading at the start of the ninth inning, players would carry the ball bag off the field, signaling that the win was "in the bag."^[4]^[5] An alternative theory suggests influence from British parliamentary procedure, in which unpresented petitions or bills were placed in a bag behind the Speaker's chair.^[6] The baseball connection remains the predominant explanation among linguists. Commonly employed in everyday language, the phrase appears in sentences like "With that last goal, the match was in the bag" to emphasize an unassailable position.^[7] Its usage has persisted into modern times across various domains, including politics and finance, underscoring confidence in favorable results without further effort.

Meaning and Usage

Definition

"In the bag" is an English idiom denoting that a success or outcome is assured, secured, or virtually accomplished, often conveying confidence that no further effort is required to achieve it.^[3]^[8] This expression functions primarily as a declarative or reassuring statement, commonly phrased as "it's in the bag" or "have it in the bag," where "it" refers to the anticipated victory or goal.^[4]^[8] The idiom's earliest printed attestation in American English appears in a 1920 newspaper article, referencing a practice from 1916, marking its evolution from literal to figurative usage in the early 20th century.^[3]^[4] Semantically, "in the bag" implies an air of inevitability and ease in securing the result, akin to "clinched" but with added connotations of predetermination or straightforward certainty.^[3]^[8] This nuance underscores a sense of the outcome being as reliably contained and protected as an item placed inside a bag.^[4] The figurative sense traces briefly to baseball origins, where securing a win was likened to safekeeping equipment (detailed in Etymology and Origin).^[3]

Common Contexts

The idiom "in the bag" is frequently applied in sports to denote a victory that appears certain, such as when a team holds a commanding lead late in a game. For instance, commentators might declare a match "in the bag" after a decisive score, reflecting confidence in the outcome based on the performance so far. In business contexts, it describes a deal or negotiation that is virtually secured, like a contract on the verge of signing following successful talks.^[9] Similarly, in politics, the phrase signals an election win that seems assured, often used by analysts to assess polling leads or campaign momentum.^[10] For personal achievements, it conveys certainty about individual successes, such as securing a scholarship or passing an exam after strong preparation. Variations in phrasing adapt the idiom to nuance timing and action. In contrast, "already in the bag" highlights past certainty, suggesting the outcome was locked in earlier, such as a promotion confirmed before official announcement. These forms maintain the core sense of inevitability while differentiating proactive versus retrospective assurance.

Etymology and Origin

Primary Theory: Baseball Roots

The primary theory linking the idiom "in the bag" to its meaning of an assured victory traces its origins to early 20th-century American baseball, particularly a superstition practiced by the New York Giants team in the 1910s under manager John McGraw.^[3] The Giants believed that at the start of the ninth inning when leading by one run, carrying the ball bag off the field—thus placing the victory "in the bag"—guaranteed success, with the bag serving as a tangible symbol of the secured win.^[4] This ritual emerged amid the team's competitive dominance in the National League, specifically during their 26 consecutive victories in 1916, reflecting broader superstitions common in baseball during that era.^[5] By the 1920s, the phrase had evolved from this literal baseball practice into a metaphorical expression for any certain outcome, appearing in sports journalism to describe fixed games or inevitable results.^[11] For instance, the earliest printed use in American English from May 1920 in The Mansfield News documented the idiom in the context of the Giants' superstition, marking its transition to wider colloquial use.^[3] The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) supports this timeline, defining "in the bag" as an "assured fact" or "certain prospect" with attestations aligning to the post-World War I period in U.S. slang.^[12] Historical sports archives, including accounts of the Giants' practices, reinforce baseball as the dominant source, outweighing less evidenced alternatives such as hunting traditions where game might be "bagged."^[3] This etymological consensus is drawn from primary journalistic records and team lore, confirming the idiom's roots in McGraw's Giants without reliance on speculative origins.^[4]

Alternative Theories

While the baseball origin remains the most substantiated explanation for the idiom "in the bag," several alternative theories have been proposed, drawing from other historical practices where securing an outcome was metaphorically linked to containment in a bag.^[3] One hypothesis traces the phrase to 19th-century American hunting traditions, in which successfully captured game was placed into a hunter's bag, symbolizing a guaranteed success or acquisition.^[3] This interpretation suggests that hunters might have referred to a targeted animal as "in the bag" once it was assuredly within reach, reflecting the certainty of the kill before physical capture.^[13] Proponents point to the prevalence of such imagery in period literature on outdoor sports, though specific references to the idiomatic usage in 1890s hunting manuals remain undocumented in primary sources.^[6] Another theory posits a British parliamentary origin dating to the 18th century in the House of Commons, where a bag near the Speaker's chair held petitions or unscheduled bills destined for certain discussion or passage.^[13] Under this view, items placed "in the bag" were effectively secured for approval without further debate, implying inevitability.^[6] This practice, while facilitating assured outcomes, appears confined to British legislative contexts until potential cross-Atlantic adoption in the early 1900s, limiting its explanatory power for the idiom's American emergence.^[3] A third, less prevalent hypothesis connects the expression to the late-19th-century rural American game of horseshoes, a popular pastime where a "ringer"—a thrown shoe fully encircling the stake—secured maximum points, sometimes described colloquially as landing "in the bag" due to the game's scoring mechanics.^[14] This folk etymology emphasizes the moment of encirclement as a clinched victory, akin to bagging a win in informal play.^[14] Each of these theories faces significant evidential challenges, particularly the absence of documented idiomatic usage prior to 1920, when the phrase first appears in print in The Mansfield News referring to the baseball superstition.^[3] The hunting and horseshoes ideas, rooted in American contexts, lack contemporary textual support from the 1890s, relying instead on retrospective analogies that postdate the idiom's recorded debut.^[3] Similarly, the parliamentary theory's British origins do not align well with the expression's early-20th-century American attestation, suggesting limited transatlantic influence before widespread adoption.^[3] These weaknesses, including regional mismatches and evidentiary gaps, reinforce the predominance of the baseball explanation over these minority views.^[3]

Cultural Impact

In Sports and Media

The idiom "in the bag" has long been a fixture in sports broadcasts, signifying a contest that is effectively secured for one side. In baseball, the phrase gained early prominence during the 1919 World Series, when suspicions arose that the Chicago White Sox had the championship "in the bag" due to alleged fixing by gamblers, heightening public scrutiny of the outcome. This usage persisted into modern commentary, as seen in 2024 when New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone rebuked overconfidence by stating, "Got this in the bag? Stop it with that," during a World Series discussion.^[15] American football announcers similarly invoke it for games appearing won, such as in college matchups where teams secure leads late, though specific radio calls from the 1930s remain anecdotal in historical records. The phrase's integration into broader media evolved through 20th-century broadcasts and entertainment. In the 1940s, it featured prominently in radio programming, including a 1940 episode of The Burns and Allen Show where Gracie Allen adopted "It's in the bag!" as her presidential campaign slogan, satirizing assured electoral success on election-themed sketches.^[16] This reflected its growing role in newsreel-style coverage of political events, where commentators on election nights described outcomes as "in the bag" for frontrunners, mirroring sports certainty. By mid-century, the idiom appeared in films like the 1945 comedy It's in the Bag!, starring Fred Allen, which loosely adapted a novel but popularized the expression in Hollywood narratives of guaranteed windfalls.^[17] In the 21st century, it extended to esports streams and commentary, with players like G2 Esports' leaf noting post-match, "We should've had this in the bag," after a 2025 Valorant defeat, underscoring its adaptability to digital competitive media.^[18] Notable instances highlight athletes' and figures' embrace of the phrase for assured triumphs. During the 2012 NBA MVP announcement, Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo remarked of LeBron James, "He's already a Hall of Fame player. That's in the bag," emphasizing his locked-in legacy amid career accolades.^[19] In baseball's 1970 World Series, Brooks Robinson's defensive dominance made his MVP award feel "in the bag," though the series required full effort to clinch.^[20] This sports vernacular has shaped related jargon, embedding "in the bag" into team strategies where coaches urge securing wins early, influencing phrases like declaring a lead "bagged" in huddles to focus on execution.^[21]

In Literature and Everyday Language

The idiom "in the bag" emerged in literary contexts during the early 20th century, coinciding with its adoption from American sporting slang to describe assured successes in business and personal endeavors. For example, it appears in F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1920 novel This Side of Paradise, where a character uses it to express confidence in social achievements.^[22] By the mid-20th century, it appeared in detective fiction, such as Dashiell Hammett's works, where it denoted cases or outcomes that investigators considered conclusively resolved, enhancing narratives of certainty amid uncertainty.^[2] In everyday language, the idiom evolved from more formal written usage in the early 1900s to prevalent casual dialogue by the 1950s, as evidenced by its increasing frequency in spoken corpora like those analyzed in linguistic studies of American English. This shift paralleled broader trends in colloquial speech, making it a staple for expressing confidence in informal settings. Today, it remains common in digital communication, such as emails and memes, where users affirm successes like "The deal is in the bag," and in self-help literature, where it motivates readers toward goal achievement.^[23] Cultural variations highlight the idiom's adaptability across English dialects. In British English, "in the bag" often conveys minor certainties or assured parliamentary motions, stemming from a historical practice in the House of Commons where proposed bills placed in a bag under the Speaker's chair were guaranteed passage.^[3] In contrast, American usage emphasizes major victories, rooted in baseball traditions where a win was "in the bag" once secured, underscoring larger stakes like elections or deals.^[4] The phrase's long-term influence persists in motivational language, particularly in 2000s pop psychology texts that employ it for self-affirmation, such as encouraging individuals to view challenges as "in the bag" to build resilience and positive mindset. Books on performance under pressure, for instance, use it to illustrate how perceived certainty can prevent failure in high-stakes situations.^[24] This integration reinforces its role in fostering optimism and proactive attitudes in contemporary self-improvement discourse.^[25]

References

[1]
IN THE BAG | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary
Nov 5, 2025 · certain to be won, achieved, or obtained: When the score got to 8 to 2 we knew the game was in the bag.
[2]
IN THE BAG Definition & Meaning - Dictionary.com
Assured of success, virtually accomplished or won. For example, The coach thought the trophy was in the bag, or Our new contract is in the bag.
[3]
In The Bag - Meaning & Origin Of The Phrase
The term in the bag with the meaning of 'virtually secured' is American and came into being in the early 20th century.
[4]
"In the Bag" | Origin and Meaning - Grammar Monster
"In the bag" originates from US baseball in the 1910s, specifically from the New York Giants. The Giants had a superstition that if the ball bag was carried off ...
[5]
in the bag meaning, origin, example, sentence, history - The Idioms
Jul 5, 2024 · The most widely accepted origin of “in the bag” comes from American baseball in the 1910s, specifically related to the New York Giants.
[6]
Definition & Meaning of "In the bag" in English | Picture Dictionary
### Theories on the Origin of "In the Bag" Idiom
[7]
In the Bag | Phrase Definition, Origin & Examples - Ginger Software
When you use the expression 'In the Bag' you mean that something has been secured to the point where it is almost in your possession.
[8]
in the bag
### Summary of "in the bag" Idiom
[9]
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/in%20the%20bag
[10]
How We Vote : Throughline - NPR
Oct 22, 2020 · They seemed to have the election in the bag. But as winter turned to spring, the Confederates began to push back hard, and the federal Army ...
[11]
[PDF] The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, Second Edition - 24talk
For example, the idiom hit one's stride can appear in a. Page 7. sentence ... IN THE BAG; LEAVE HOLDING THE BAG; LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG; MIXED BAG ...<|separator|>
[12]
(PDF) Variation Within Idiomatic Variation: Exploring the Differences ...
Jan 29, 2021 · Barlow's (2000) corpus-based findings. 3.1.4. Down the Drain. While prepositional phrase idioms, like down the drain and in the bag, are not.
[13]
[PDF] The Most Frequent Opaque Idioms in English News - ERIC
idioms. Frequency. Opaque idioms Frequency. Opaque idioms. Frequency the likes of. 254,904 in the bag. 10,347 be that as it may. 5,243 to death. 198,654 a blind ...
[14]
Bag - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
This also probably explains modern slang in the bag "assured, certain" (1922, American English). To be left holding the bag (and presumably nothing else) ...Missing: idiom | Show results with:idiom
[15]
bag, n. meanings, etymology and more | Oxford English Dictionary
slang. In(to) prison. Also in to be put in the bag: to be taken prisoner. 1917.
[16]
None
Nothing is retrieved...<|separator|>
[17]
The most useful Idioms and their Meaning - Smart Words
In the bag. Meaning: Secured / guaranteed outcome. Origin: This idiom originated in Great Britain when a bag was placed under the Speaker's chair ...
[18]
In the Bag - Phrases.com
Feb 25, 2019 · The expression might have come from two possible origins. In British Parliament, “in the bag” meant a certain thing; a bag was placed near the ...
[19]
My word, you're letting the cat out of the bag | Irish Independent
Mar 13, 2005 · Speaking of bags, 'in the bag' is a well-known phrase which originates from a practice in the House of Lords. Since the beginning of the ...<|separator|>
[20]
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/2136173/2020/10/14/i-still-respect-him-more-stories-of-brooks-robinson-and-the-1970-world-series/
[21]
Aaron Boone facing the ultimate test as Yankees manager - ESPN
Oct 28, 2024 · Boone snapped impatiently, "Come on. No. 'Got this in the bag'? Stop it with that." Boone has a de facto sounding board. His father stays up to ...Missing: idiom | Show results with:idiom
[22]
Series: Burns & Allen Show: Gracie Runs for President Date
Yes, and it's gonna be my election slogan. GEORGE: What slogan? GRACIE: "It's in the bag"! GEORGE: It is, huh? GRACIE: Nyeah, nyeah, nyeah, nyeah! ... SOUND ...
[23]
Forgotten Laughter: The Fred Allen Story - AMERICAN HERITAGE
... 1940 feature, and It's in the Bag, made in 1945, both of which costarred Jack Benny. Allen was not impressed with his films. “Every time I made a picture ...
[24]
G2 leaf on facing Paper Rex: "We should've had this in the bag."
Sep 25, 2025 · G2 Esports spoke to the media shortly after falling to Paper ... G2 leaf on facing Paper Rex: "We should've had this in the bag." 5K ...
[25]
LeBron James wins 3rd NBA MVP award - CBS News
May 12, 2012 · "He's already a Hall of Fame player. That's in the bag," McAdoo said. "If you ask him, a world championship or an individual award, he'll take ...Missing: interview | Show results with:interview
[26]
'I still respect him': More stories of Brooks Robinson and the 1970 ...
Oct 14, 2020 · ... in the bag, but the 4-for-4 didn't hurt). Thursday is the golden anniversary of Game 5, when the Orioles won the Series, and we'll honor it ...
[27]
We Use Sports Terms All the Time. But Where Do They Come From?
Aug 6, 2018 · It sounds like it might be from a card game, but it actually comes from horse racing. When a jockey has a race in the bag, he can relax his hold ...<|control11|><|separator|>
[28]
The role of idioms in sentiment analysis - ScienceDirect.com
Nov 30, 2015 · ... expression in the bag, the figurative meaning of which is virtually secured: ... The most frequently used spoken American English idioms: A corpus ...
[29]
Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right ...
Sep 21, 2010 · Why did you tank that interview or miss that golf swing when you should have had it in the bag? Why do you mess up when it matters the most—and ...
[30]
7 Everyday English Idioms and Where They Come From - Britannica
It is unknown where the more American definitions came from, though they are used very commonly. “I've got it in the bag”.<|control11|><|separator|>