# When did people start categorizing things in "buckets"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 27, 2007, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-categorizing-things-in-buckets/409596 "2007-06-27T03:36:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-categorizing-things-in-buckets/409596/1 "2007-06-27T03:36:51Z")
It’s really starting to get on my nerves. Where did this strange trend come from? ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-categorizing-things-in-buckets/409596/2 "2007-06-27T03:38:23Z")
I’m not so sure I follow… Can you give an example? ---
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-categorizing-things-in-buckets/409596/3 "2007-06-27T03:43:28Z")
For example, your boss might say something like, “we can divide our clients into three buckets: end-users, retailers, and wholesalers.” ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-categorizing-things-in-buckets/409596/4 "2007-06-27T03:46:49Z")
Productivity guru David Allen uses this terminology in his 2002 book [Getting Things Done](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done). ---
**Author:** ![Crescend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Crescend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crescend)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-categorizing-things-in-buckets/409596/5 "2007-06-27T04:18:13Z")
The word “bucket” as a synonym for “bin” (as in “binning”) is quite old in computer science. I can pull up papers dating back to the 60s that refer to “buckets” in the context of an algorithm. The word “bucketizing” as a synonym for “binning” is much newer, though still universally understood, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-categorizing-things-in-buckets/409596/6 "2007-06-27T19:46:40Z")
[QUOTE=Crescend] The word “bucket” as a synonym for “bin” (as in “binning”) is quite old in computer science. I can pull up papers dating back to the 60s that refer to “buckets” in the context of an algorithm. The word “bucketizing” as a synonym for “binning” is much newer, though still universally understood, I believe. [/QUOTE] That may be true, but does anyone remember hearing people use this phrase casually back in, say, 1999? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-categorizing-things-in-buckets/409596/7 "2007-06-27T20:18:51Z")
[QUOTE=Cagey Drifter] That may be true, but does anyone remember hearing people use this phrase casually back in, say, 1999? [/QUOTE] I recall using it as early as 2000, in a computer context as noted above. ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-categorizing-things-in-buckets/409596/8 "2007-06-27T20:34:22Z")
FWIW, I’ve never encountered this usage. I came here thinking it would be about an expression like Dylan’s “buckets o’ rain, buckets o’ tears.” Is this used by the same kind of people who talk about “deliverables” and “silos”? ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-categorizing-things-in-buckets/409596/9 "2007-06-27T20:37:10Z")
I’ve used it in reference to hash table (for which it’s use is many decades old, as noted), but nothing else. Sounds kinda silly if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-categorizing-things-in-buckets/409596/10 "2007-06-27T20:38:03Z")
Same as Rube for me – I’ve never heard it used casually at all. Only in systems context. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-categorizing-things-in-buckets/409596/11 "2007-06-27T20:43:42Z")
The earliest that I can put a date on is 1995, in discussions on how a customer’s account balance would be handled, and what buckets the component parts (products, late charges, interest, etc.) would be plopped into. ETA: But that’s still a more or less specific instance, and casual conversation, sorta like the “bit bucket.” ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2007, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-categorizing-things-in-buckets/409596/12 "2007-06-28T05:48:28Z")
The fare-setting department for airlines often refer to seats in buckets. They’ve done so for years. Not the physical seats in which one places one’s hiney on the aircraft. It’s the fare-types that separate one bucket from another. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2007, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-categorizing-things-in-buckets/409596/13 "2007-06-28T16:34:54Z")
My business wife has started talking about buckets. Since she is normally allergic to business book jargon, I will now get to tease her unmercifully about this. Thank you very much. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2007, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-categorizing-things-in-buckets/409596/14 "2007-06-28T16:59:14Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] My business wife has started talking about buckets. Since she is normally allergic to business book jargon, I will now get to tease her unmercifully about this. Thank you very much. 🙂 [/QUOTE] I’m reading The Handmaid’s Tale. What other varieties of wives do you have? FTR, I haven’t been able to carry a tune in a bucket in my lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2007, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-categorizing-things-in-buckets/409596/15 "2007-06-28T17:11:32Z")
I’ve only heard it in reference to cell phone minutes. But perhaps proliferation of the term is the result of [this](http://icanhascheezburger.com/tag/bucket/page/3/) series on [icanhazcheezburger.com](http://icanhazcheezburger.com). (To understand how the whole bucket thing on icanhazcheezburger started, go to the bottom of the page this links to and work backwards.) ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2007, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-categorizing-things-in-buckets/409596/16 "2007-06-28T17:27:46Z")
I heard it used in the late 90’s, but as others have said, in terms of sorting data. As in, “when the system calculates a distribution, 75% comes from the Contributions bucket and 25% from the Earnings bucket.” ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2007, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-categorizing-things-in-buckets/409596/17 "2007-06-28T18:18:12Z")
[QUOTE=Auntbeast] I’m reading The Handmaid’s Tale. What other varieties of wives do you have? [/QUOTE] Like most married working couples, we have often discussed the need for a traditional wife to do housework. Volunteers are encouraged to apply. The pay is negligible, but the fringe benefits are wonderful. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2007, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-categorizing-things-in-buckets/409596/18 "2007-06-28T18:35:24Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] Like most married working couples, we have often discussed the need for a traditional wife to do housework. Volunteers are encouraged to apply. The pay is negligible, but the fringe benefits are wonderful. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Yeah, we agreed a long time ago that Norm Abrams can move in anytime. ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-categorizing-things-in-buckets/409596/19 "2007-06-28T18:38:38Z")
During the 70’s and 80’s I worked in the banking industry. When we were setting up procedures and processes for dealing with funds we always referred to buckets. Not sure if it started with data processors but it was in common use in New England at that time. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2007, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-categorizing-things-in-buckets/409596/20 "2007-06-28T19:13:04Z")
We used the term ‘buckets’ regularly since 1972. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-people-start-categorizing-things-in-buckets/409596.md?page=2)