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  • Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Word Origins 79. The word origin today is fleabag.

  • Okay. Let's take a look at the note here. Today, the word fleabag is most commonly

  • used to mean an inexpensive run-down ... meaning you know, they don't do good

  • maintenance on it and perhaps unkept hotel. You know, maybe they don't even

  • change the sheets as often as they should or they don't keep it as clean as

  • they should. So we could say it's unkept hotel. It can be used as a noun by itself.

  • You know like you just want to stay in a fleabag or as an adjective like in a

  • fleabag motel or a fleabag hotel. Both of those would be okay. All right. Let's

  • continue. The origin of fleabag comes from the idea of a mattress or sleeping

  • bag that may be infested with fleas. So it's just what you might imagine. The

  • earliest known citing comes from the novel "The Confessions of Harry Lorreque. "

  • Maybe. In 1839 written by novelist Charles T Lever. This may have derived

  • from. So it may have come from an older term " flea park" that had the same meaning.

  • But went out of use. So I guess they meant in the same way. Like maybe your

  • bed you know, especially in the old days you know, probably a lot more beds

  • actually had bedbugs or fleas in them. So they would get maybe in a comical way

  • they referring to your bed as a flea park. You know, so where they're all over the place.

  • Well anyway, but that use is gone and but we still do say fleabag. All right. Let's continue.

  • Okay. The term became popular during World War one because many soldiers

  • referred to their sleeping bag as a fleabag. And that's how it eventually

  • ended up ... well you know, got having the use for a hotel or a cheap hotel or

  • a hotel that's not so clean. It could be referred to as a flea bag. Okay.

  • We just give one example here. This time I want to stay at a nicer hotel. You know,

  • maybe a three-four-five star hotel. Don't book that same fleabag we stayed

  • at the last time. So especially a wife might be saying this to a husband if he

  • he booked a hotel that was really, really cheap or vice versa.

  • Anyway, I hope you got it. I hope it is clear. I hope you found it informative. Thank you

  • for your time. Bye bye.

Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Word Origins 79. The word origin today is fleabag.

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