# wooden barrels

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wooden-barrels/3397>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 22, 1999, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wooden-barrels/3397 "1999-09-22T18:05:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![cody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@cody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cody)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 1999, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wooden-barrels/3397/1 "1999-09-22T18:05:00Z")

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What is the origin of the image of a poor person wearing a wooden barrel?

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**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 1999, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wooden-barrels/3397/2 "1999-09-22T20:56:00Z")

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\<blink\> **WAG Alert! WAG Alert!\</blink\>**

Wooden barrels were common place in the 1800’s. In old B&W films, you see water barrels on every street corner, especially in the west.

Much like a homeless or otherwise poor person today would use what was around him and make due, it seems the easiest thing for someone lacking to grab a barrel.

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Yer pal,  
Satan

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**Author:** ![Inky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d78d45/32.png) [@Inky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 1999, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wooden-barrels/3397/3 "1999-09-22T21:02:00Z")

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Whats a “WAG” anyhow?

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**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 1999, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wooden-barrels/3397/4 "1999-09-22T21:19:00Z")

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WAG = Wild Ass Guess

as opposed to

SWAG = Silly/Stupid Wild Ass Guess

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![cody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@cody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cody)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 1999, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wooden-barrels/3397/5 "1999-09-22T21:23:00Z")

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I’ve heard that conjecture before and it makes sense up to a point. But did people ever actually WEAR them? I mean, yeah, people sometimes sleep in cardboard boxes today, but they don’t commonly wear them. Could it just be a theatrical device, like a vaudeville sight gag?