# What do you call that thing in your back pocket where you keep your cash, cards, etc. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 6, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-that-thing-in-your-back-pocket-where-you-keep-your-cash-cards-etc/329802 "2005-11-06T17:27:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-that-thing-in-your-back-pocket-where-you-keep-your-cash-cards-etc/329802/21 "2005-11-07T00:23:11Z")
I used to call mine a billfold until someone made fun of me for it. Now I would say I call it a wallet most of the time. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-that-thing-in-your-back-pocket-where-you-keep-your-cash-cards-etc/329802/22 "2005-11-07T01:02:22Z")
Wallet. My grandparents called it a billfold. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-that-thing-in-your-back-pocket-where-you-keep-your-cash-cards-etc/329802/23 "2005-11-07T01:15:42Z")
I carry my wallet in my purse. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-that-thing-in-your-back-pocket-where-you-keep-your-cash-cards-etc/329802/24 "2005-11-07T01:42:25Z")
> [@Happy Lendervedder](#): > > Your definitions are interesting, but I think the terms [‘billfold’](http://www.answers.com/billfold&r=67) & [‘wallet’](http://www.answers.com/wallet) are a little more interchangable than that. > > Or could it be that a wallet is sometimes a billfold, but a billfold is never a wallet? To me, a billfold is more specialised than a wallet. A wallet does all that a billfold does–holding and protecting folding money–but it does more besides. A wallet also holds credit cards, holds and displays an ID card, sometimes holds coins, etc. As for ‘purse’–I distincly remember my mother keeping both her wallet and her change purse in her purse (or handbag). ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-that-thing-in-your-back-pocket-where-you-keep-your-cash-cards-etc/329802/25 "2005-11-07T02:01:06Z")
I call it both, but I call it “wallet” far more often than I call it “billfold”. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-that-thing-in-your-back-pocket-where-you-keep-your-cash-cards-etc/329802/26 "2005-11-07T02:04:16Z")
> [@Happy Lendervedder](#): > > Billfold or wallet? Either one. Or maybe it’s both, but not at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-that-thing-in-your-back-pocket-where-you-keep-your-cash-cards-etc/329802/27 "2005-11-07T03:05:44Z")
I have a wallet in my back pocket (well, not right now). Anyway… I know that _some_ makers distinguish the two thusly: A billfold is a largish device. Think at least as large as a standard checkbook. Typically kept in the inside chest pocket of a suit jacket. A wallet is the smaller device. Small enough to be kept in a rear pocket without sticking out. Contents has nothing to do with it. But clearly a billfold (as defined above) can hold things like checks without folding them. As the larger billfold would be more expensive as well as requiring a suitable place for keeping it, they (and the term) are associated with people of wealth. But this is America and us less-than-wealthy can call it anything we want. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-that-thing-in-your-back-pocket-where-you-keep-your-cash-cards-etc/329802/28 "2005-11-07T10:25:55Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Purse = handbag for me, and is for women; handbag is the less common expression. > > A similar bag for men is a bookbag or a messenger bag (and I’ve only seen ‘messenger bag’ in catalogues; I’m not sure it’s a live expression here). See, I have a messenger bag – and I also have a purse. The messenger bag is big enough to hold a fair number of books and is wide enough to fit a binder. The purse is just big enough for my wallet and assorted other necessaries, but cannot hold documents (besides maybe a paperback). Of course, I’ve had people go _nuts_ insisting that IT’S A BAG! NOT A PURSE, A BAAAAAAAAAG! which makes me wonder why it threatens them so much. If my purse can inspire fear, I may have an interesting superhero career ahead of me. ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-that-thing-in-your-back-pocket-where-you-keep-your-cash-cards-etc/329802/29 "2005-11-07T10:44:40Z")
(A bit of a hijack to amuse) My father had the habit of swearing around the house and my mother’s protests went unheeded. She later loved to tell this story. When I was about three I was in the bedroom w/ my father as he was getting dressed. He had lain his wallet on the bed and I was apparently going after it. He slid the wallet to the other side of the bed and I toddled around to try again. After several tries, according to my mother, I looked up at him and said, “gimme that bullfol’ you sovenabiss!” He apparently made an attempt to watch his language after that. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-that-thing-in-your-back-pocket-where-you-keep-your-cash-cards-etc/329802/30 "2005-11-07T16:52:20Z")
Another wallet carrier here. And I’m glad to see so many of us keeping it in a front pocket. Aside from being a fair bit more secure from pickpockets, it’s better for your back. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-that-thing-in-your-back-pocket-where-you-keep-your-cash-cards-etc/329802/31 "2005-11-07T17:54:33Z")
Mostly, I just call mine “empty”… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-that-thing-in-your-back-pocket-where-you-keep-your-cash-cards-etc/329802.md?page=1)