I hear it all the time a bag man what does it mean?
The bagman is the member of the criminal gang assigned to collect bribe, extortion, or kidnapping money.
Or it could be a homeless man who keeps his possessions in a bag.
Nah…people say “bag lady,” but I’ve never heard anybody say “bag man” in the same sense.
Incidentally, the name probably arose in crook circles because the amounts of money were such that the designated carrier couldn’t carry it all in his pockets. He needed a bag.
“Bag man” usually refers to a VERY low-level flunky in organized crime. If, say, the Mob is running a “protection racket” in some neighborhood, the “bag man” is the guy who comes around to local shops to collect the money.
A necessary job, I suppose, but not one that commands much respect within the mob… or even from the people who have to pay him. He’s viewed as a mere errand boy, doing grunt work for the REAL gangsters, the ones who command fear and respect.
the term is used all the time in politics. The “political bagman” is a trusted local who raises money and support for a political party.
After a successful career as a bagman the reward is usually an appointment as trade council to one of the U.S. states, an appointment to top management or directorship of a government corporation (which business the bagman usually knows absolutely nothing about), perhaps an ambassadorship, or an appointment to the Senate. A recent Governor-General appointment, as the Queen’s representative in Canada, went to a bagman, although the latest Governor-General rose to fame as a talking head on the government owned TV station. As our Prime Minister recently put it, “some guys you know, and that’s who you call.” (quote may not be exact)
There is probably a U.S. equivalent to this definition of bagman.
As an aside, the term seems to have originated in the US in the 1930’s.
Baglady first appears in print in 1972. As a homeless person.
The guy who carries around the whatever-it-is that the President of the U.S. would have to enter the secret code into to authorize a nuclear strike is also called The Bagman.
And, I believe that the cop or detective who collects and distributes the pad money (that’s money taken from various neighborhood businesses in order to assure that they will have “special” police protection) to the other cops on the pad is also called the Bagman. (I seem to recall this from reading Serpico; also, the term was used in this manner on a rerun of Law & Order the other night.)
In the Tennessee area “Bag Man” refers to the fellow that carries the bribe to the politician. This gives deniability (sp) to the crooks.
The money is usually in a brown paper bag. Looks like the guy is carrying his lunch instead of cash.
“Baglady first appears in print in 1972. As a homeless person.”
Merriam-Webster gives the date as 1979.
However, I am 98% certain that Congressman Adam Clayton-Powell of New York got into a legal battle sometime before 1972 because he called a prominent female New Yorker a “bag lady” and he didn’t mean she was homeless. He used the term as the female counterpart to “bagman.” Does anybody else remember this? I think she sued him for libel.
JE Lighter, Random House Dictionary of American Slang, Vol I, “1972(cited in Oxf. Dict. Mod. Slang).”
Adam Clayton Powell,in 1960, got successfully sued for calling a woman a “bag-lady”, inferring she carried money as payoffs. She wasn’t homeless.
DAMN! Hate when I rush. He called her a bag-woman. Not a baglady.
…and “bagwoman” is attested to in the 1966 “Random House Dictionary.” So Mr. Powell didn’t invent the word.
Just saw the pilot of ‘Law and Order’ again on A&E (was actually ep. 6 when aired) last night… It was called ‘Everybody’s Favorite Bagman’. It was used in reference to political bribery, not homelessness.
Did seeing that spur the question, Dand? Or was it just a freaky co-ink-i-dink?
SF