American English? Explain the origin of "Wandering the drag" & "Strolling the drag"
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Anonymous
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When I was first learning English those phrases would throw me off because it did not make any sense to me at all.
What is the origin of those phrases? As a non native English speaker the word "strip" makes more sense to me than "drag" |
Anonymous
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Neighbor: "Walking the drag"
Me: Huh? What? |
Anonymous
| I've never heard anyone say either of these. |
Anonymous
| From DC and I have never heard those words in that order. Occasionally you hear a major street/highway called a “main drag” but I’ve never heard those phrases. |
Anonymous
| These are not common phrases. "Main drag" is, like a PP said. It refers to a major street or center of town. |
Anonymous
| People talk like that in Maryland. |
Anonymous
Same. Nothing even close to this. |
Anonymous
40+ years in MD, and never heard it there either. |
Anonymous
I am 50 l, have spent all those years in Maryland except for college, and no. No, they do not. |
Anonymous
| I’m from Virginia and have never heard those phrases |
Anonymous
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I think those are archaic phrases and are no longer in common use. My mom will say stuff like "the store is on the main drag" but she won't use the word "drag" without calling it the "main drag." I'm from the Midwest to add to the geographical survey.
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Anonymous
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Drag is outdated slang for street, that survives in phrases like main drag and drag racing. It may come from vehicles drawn (dragged) by animals.
I've never heard anybody use OP's phrases though. |
Anonymous
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OP, what was the context in which you heard those phrases?
I’ve never heard them either, from the northeast. I’ve never heard them in an old movie or tv show, either. |
Anonymous
| Main drag is the only way I've heard it referred to. |
Anonymous
Same. And you don't wander it or stroll it; you cruise it. Though cruising the strip is more the term. In your Iroq. |